carving up the profits: apprenticeship and structural flexibility in a contemporary African craft market

Abstract

African apprentice workgroups have structural limitations at the level of the individual unit which hinder the elasticity of their response to market fluctuations. Substantivists have noted that analysis of these institutions as classic Western “enterprises” may therefore be misleading. However, their divergence from this model need not totally invalidate examination of such workgroups from a formalist perspective. Under the guidance of entrepreneurs, individual units may be temporarily integrated into broader structural networks which are sensitive to market demands. Hence, a melding of economic perspectives may prove most fruitful in analyzing such institutions. [economics, social organization, culture change, art]

Process and Social Formation: Petty Commodity Producers in Zinder, Niger

“…Another argument is that goods produced by PCPrs are mainly purchased by bourgeois clients, and thus their potential contribution to economic development is limited (Seidman 1977;Silver 1981 ). There are a few groups of artisans in Zinder for whom this argument holds true (Amould 1981) but not for the tanners or potters.…”

“…In return for labor and allegiance, Yaro provided the tanners with food, clothing, shelter, and bridewealth, in addition to paying their taxes. The internal structure of the workshop was a variant of the form of pre-colonial, pre-capitalist West African workshops described above (Nadel 1961;Silver 1981;Verdon 1979).…”

“…This essay builds upon the work of recent students ofPCPn (Littlefield 1978;Verdon 1979;Silver 1981 ). The overall goal is to illustrate that the complexity of changing relationships between local producers and international market forces renders simplistic pronouncements about the exploitation or entrepreneurial potential of PCPn in Africa as a whole premature.…”

The Trade in West African Art

“…For further references on both of these perspectives see Stanley (1987). (1976,1977), Silver (1979Silver ( , 1981aSilver ( , 1981b, Richter (1980), Ross and Reichert (1983), Jules-Rosette (1984), and Wolff (1985). The study of the art trade has been the subject of far fewer works, although some notable exceptions, which include descriptions of African art markets and market systems, have been published by Elkan (1958), Crowley (1970Crowley ( ,1974Crowley ( , 1979, Himmelheber (1975), and Robinson (1975).…”

“…In the past two decades, the study of art production for trade (e.g., the social organization of workshops, the relationship between aesthetics and market demand, and the semiotics of communication between art creators and art consumers) has received attention by such scholars as Ben-Amos (1976,1977), Silver (1979Silver ( , 1981aSilver ( , 1981b, Richter (1980), Ross and Reichert (1983), Jules-Rosette (1984), and Wolff (1985). In the past two decades, the study of art production for trade (e.g., the social organization of workshops, the relationship between aesthetics and market demand, and the semiotics of communication between art creators and art consumers) has received attention by such scholars as Ben-Amos (1976,1977), Silver (1979Silver ( , 1981aSilver ( , 1981b, Richter (1980), Ross and Reichert (1983), Jules-Rosette (1984), and Wolff (1985).…”