Money, Modernization and Ambivalence Among the Sidāma of Northeastern Africa

Abstract

This article attempts to show how the historic exchange and market system along with an entrenched social ambivalence of an African people impacts the use of multi‐purpose money and modernization. I focus on how individuals have responded to the latter in the middle to late twentieth century. The reaction is then compared with that of people in three other African societies. The conclusion considers how traditional subsistence values have led to an emphasis on social identity rather than mere quantitative value of things and money.