AEGIS ECAS 2007 - View abstract

Panel	29. Extended families in time. Creating alliances and power networks in Western Africa societies and history
Paper ID	105
Author(s)	Alber, Erdmute
Paper	No paper submitted
Abstract	My paper reconstructs the family history of a former slave in Northern Benin, who made a career in the French colonial administration and became a village chief in 1920. Afterwards he assured the throne for his son. Telling this story, I want firstly to show how familiy history is connected to the political history of a region, and secondly, how former slaves took the new possibilities of colonial rule to transform their status.

A slave as a ruler - talking about a hidden aspect in the history of chieftaincy in West Africa