Historical and Cultural Aspects / Aspects Historiques et Culturelles Cultural models of power in Africa

Abstract

This chapter develops a typology of power applicable to Africa that is based on general notions from Bourdieu's sociology of difference, and which then leads into some generalities and commonalities of African notions of power. The six types of a model of power relations are: the ?icon', the ?elephant' the ?executive' the ?lion', the ?patron' and the ' pater familias '. The four major commonalities that inform African cultural thinking are: power as a personal attribute; the use of the kinship discourse with all its ramifications in politics; the link with the spiritual world; and neo-patrimonialism and exploitation. The chapter concludes that African economic capital is about access, which underscores the importance of social capital, and the various capitals are not independent of each other. Symbolic capital seems to be more so, based as it is on local and regional notions of sacredness. Keywords: pater familias ; Africa; cultural models of power