Remotely Global: Village Modernity in West Africa

by Charles Piot

At first glance, the remote villages of the Kabre people of northern Togo appear to have all the trappings of a classic "out of the way" African culture—subsistence farming, straw-roofed houses, and rituals to the spirits and ancestors. Arguing that village life is in fact an effect of the modern and the global, Charles Piot suggests that Kabre culture is shaped as much by colonial and postcolonial history as by anything "indigenous" or local. Through analyses of everyday and ceremonial social practices, Piot illustrates the intertwining of modernity with tradition and of the local with the national and global. In a striking example of the appropriation of tradition by the state, Togo's Kabre president regularly flies to the region in his helicopter to witness male initiation ceremonies.

Confounding both anthropological theorizations and the State Department's stereotyped images of African village life, Remotely Global aims to rethink Euroamerican theories that fail to come to terms with the fluidity of everyday relations in a society where persons and things are forever in motion.

Genres: Anthropology, Africa, Nonfiction, Ethnography

238 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1999

Reviews

[Ville Gustafsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though my edition is from 1999, Piot's reflections and theoretical approach seem to be mostly in line with the current/late criticism of Euroamerican theorization of those cultures that are seen as "traditional" from our Western, "modern" perspective. As i was expecting something quite the opposite from a book dated more than 20 years in the past, I was gladly surprised.

Piot describes Kabre relations with the outer world, with diasporas and between persons, spirits and "houses" with a personal touch and reflection that acknowledges his own - and ours, as Westerners - twisted views of those faraway lands described, and often marketed to, us as something wild, savage and traditional. In so doing, he dives into the mix of what is seen as modern and traditional and throws the refreshing mix on the reader's face with a splash that will surely wake them up from their orientalist sleep in case they are still dreaming.

Although he seems occasionally to fall in some of the traps he claims to ackowledge in theorizing African cultures from a Western point of view - there are some parts that seem to renew the orientalist tradition and those should not go unnoticed - the big picture seems quite legit to an amateur like me, at least.

[Ciro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eloquent and entertaining ethnography; deserving praise for:

1) Criticizing functionalist explanations for being tautological and eurocentric. This applies to both structural-functionalist and Marxist Africanist anthropology. The former trying to find the function of ritual and other practices in the need for cohesion (assuming individualism is human nature, as if people need something to coerce them into solidarity), and the latter in the supposed exploitation of one group over another (elders over youth, men over women). The arguments against the Marxists are a bit more dubious, since Piot criticizes false consciousness by citing what Kabre say of themselves, thus being just as tautological as the Marxists he's critiquing.

2) Showing that what we consider to be "traditional" is actually inextricably linked to modernity. The word "Kabre" itself (the name of the society Piot studied) was coined by German colonialists.

[Dave Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kabre, a minority group based in the West African country of Togo, have settled the country’s northern plains for hundreds of years. With a known history that dates back to the slave trade in the 1700’s. Having suffered through German colonization, followed by that of the French, the Kabre, primarily subsistence farmers, currently dominate Togo government. This, despite the fact that the 730,000 Kabre make up only 23% of Togo`s population. Although well-situated in the modern world, the Kabre still hold strongly to ‘traditional’ ways, including ritual ceremonies, and a belief in spirits. These ways have long attracted the attention of anthropologists, yielding scores of studies of Kabre society. The majority, if not all of these, paint the Kabre’s traditions as uncontaminated by outside influences.

In Remotely Global: Village Modernity in West Africa (1999), author Charles Piot attempts to look at the Kabre from a different angle. Piot, Chair and Professor of Cultural Anthropology and African and African American Studies, at Duke University, has focused his studies on rural West Africa. After spending several months in Togo living with and studying the Kabre, Piot tries in Remotely Global to detail the meshing of the modern and traditional within the Kabre, while correcting what he believes are the basic faults of earlier studies – that 1) that prior anthropological assumptions and conclusions were filtered through observers’ own beliefs and biases, and 2) the Kabre traditions are not ‘pure,’ but heavily influenced by its Euroamerican interactions.

In the end, Piot delivers one of the more well-researched, if a little dry, studies on the Kabre people. Combining a multitude of prior research with his own studies, as well as personal experiences, he creates a solid in-depth look at a well-studies but misunderstood people. Definitely a worthwhile read.

[Izzy Bajek · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this for my anthro theory class and it was dense with examples but ultimately super interesting!!! all about modernity versus tradition and how they aren’t separate entities but instead interconnected, using the kabre culture as an example to show this. my prof likes to say that anthro makes the familiar strange and the strange familiar, and this book definitely did that

[David Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Piot’s book “Remotely Global” is an ethnography about the Kabre people of northern Togo on on how modernity impacted a village most would consider remote.

I read this book more or less on accident, as I found it on my mother-in-law’s desk while looking for something to read. I have not regretted picking up this book. In fact, I found his theoretical engagement in the introduction stimulating and inspiring. I was even more impressed by the rich ethnographic material in later chapters (which I am sure is the envy of some fellow cultural anthropologists) and his insightful and illuminating reflections on it.
Most interesting for me were, firstly, his description of gender differentiation among the Kabre. It certainly brings an interesting aspect to the current debates around gender and identity. Secondly, his convincing argument that there is no such thing as a remote place untouched by modernity. Modernity, colonialism and globalization have utterly transformed our planet, and even seemingly timeless traditions in the cosmopolitan periphery are influenced, sometimes even structured by and in response to, modernity.

So glad I picked it up when I saw it on that desk.

[DM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice critique of individualism in Western theory - inspired by Strathern. Not sure if he really succeeds in escaping tautology though.

[Anya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conceptually intriguing. I’m just not an ethnographer.

Read for MMUF Independent Study

[Charis Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

this man experiences more thoughts in a day than i will in my entire lifetime

[mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A in-depth look at another culture's social interactions. Enlightening.

[Will L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thankfully written with confidence and clarity. Shows the way in which Kabre are thoroughly within, not prior or exterior to, modernity. A fascinating book. Hope to re-read.