Work, Social Status, and Gender in Post-Slavery Mauritania

232 Pages·2018·5.426 MB·English

by  Katherine A. Wiley

WORK, SOCIAL STATUS, and GENDER in
POST-SLAVERY MAURITANIA

WOR K, SOCIAL STATUS,
and GENDER in
POST-SLAVERY
M AUR ITANIA
Katherine Ann Wiley
Indiana University Press
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
© 2018 by Katherine Ann Wiley
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wiley, Katherine Ann, author.
Title: Work, social status, and gender in post-slavery Mauritania / Katherine
Ann Wiley.
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2018. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018014997 (print) | LCCN 2018023311 (ebook) | ISBN
9780253036254 (e-book) | ISBN 9780253036216 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN
9780253036223 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Muslim women—Mauritania—Social conditions. | Muslim
women—Mauritania—Economic conditions. | Social status—Mauritania. |
Mauritania—Social conditions—21st century.
Classification: LCC HQ1815 (ebook) | LCC HQ1815 .W55 2018 (print) | DDC
305.4869709661—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018014997
1 2 3 4 5 23 22 21 20 19 18
For Pat, Ken, and Mike

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Note on Transliteration and Language xiii
Introduction: I Will Make You My Servant: Social Status,
Gender, and Work 1
1 From Black to Green: Changing Political Economy and
Social Status in Kankossa 27
2 “We Work for Our Lives”: Revaluing Femininity and
Work in a Post-slavery Market 56
3 Joking Market Women: Critiquing and Negotiating Gender
Roles and Social Hierarchy 81
4 Women’s Market Strategies: Building Social Networks,
Protecting Resources, and Managing Credit 101
5 Making People Bigger: Wedding Exchange and the
Creation of Social Value 126
6 Embodying and Performing Gender and Social Status
Through the Malah.fa (Mauritanian veil) 149
Conclusion: Social Rank in the Neoliberal Era 176
Glossary 187
Bibliography 191
Index 207

Acknowledgments
T
his project never would have happened if not for the wonderful women,
men, and children who not only befriended me but incorporated me into their
social circles and families in Kankossa. I do not name them here to preserve
their privacy, but I will be forever grateful to them for all they taught me about
my research questions and, more importantly, life in general. This book exists
because of them.
Many other Mauritanians were generous with their time and taught me
more than I ever could have hoped for. Mohamedou Mohameden Meyine and
Fatimetou housed me in Nouakchott and provided me with access to the Centre
d’Etudes et de Recherches sur l’Ouest Saharien. Mohamedou also graciously helped
me gain permission to conduct my research. El Hassen Ould Ahmed, Zekeria
Ould Ahmed Salem, Mariem Mint Baba, Mohamed Khattar, and Cheikh Saad
Bouh Kamara provided much helpful guidance on my work. Thank you to the
staff at the Institut Mauritanien de Recherche Scientifique, especially the director
Jiyid Abdi for helping to facilitate this project. A special thanks, as well, to others
in Nouakchott who welcomed me into their homes, especially Soukeina Allaf,
Siham Babana, Daouda Diallo, and all my friends from Kankossa who ended
up settling there. I am so lucky to have Brahim Bilal Ramdhane as a friend and
teacher. His assistance with my research was invaluable, and his and his family’s
company made my time in Nouakchott very pleasant. The same goes to Cheikh
Sidi Ahmed and Mustapha Ould Sedeti who taught me so much about Hassaniya
and life in Kankossa. Thank you also to officials in Kankossa who helped facili-
tate my stay, including the head of the gendarmes, Sidi Mohamed Ould Haida,
and the department governor, Sidi Ahmed Ould Ahmed Ould Houeibib.
This book has also been shaped by many generous and insightful individuals
who read portions of it or commented on papers I presented over the six years
I worked on it. These include Mara Bernstein, Kate Bishop, Lewis (Addison)
Bradford, Elizabeth Burbach, Geert Castryck, Sarah Dillard, Tara Deubel,
Brigittine M. French, Dinah Hannaford, Itohan Idumwonyi, Susan N. Johnson-
Roehr, Cole Louison, Adeline Masquelier, Susan McKinnon, Erin Pettigrew,
Wendell Schwab, Nadine Sieveking, Susan Slyomovics, Beverly Stoeltje, Devorah
Shubowitz, Annie Wainscott, and Bruce Whitehouse. Monica Foote and Sarah
Gordon’s feedback and commitment to keeping us all on track greatly contrib-
uted to the start of this work. I am also grateful to participants in the 2010 Paris
conference on H.arāt.īn, especially E. Ann McDougall, Bruce Hall, and Alessandra
ix