Petty craft production and the underdevelopment process in Zinder, Republic of Niger

Abstract

Studies of the products of West African plastic arts, their aesthetic qualities and sym? bolism, abound. Analyses of marketing systems in West Africa, both pre-colonial and modern, have also received considerable attention [11. However, comparatively few in-depth studies of the social organization of nineteenth cen? tury craft production in West Africa exist [2]. Rarer still are analyses of the changing struc? tures of craft production brought about through the integration of regional economies into the world market economy [3]. This paper reports on preliminary research on the impact of the modern capitalist economy upon petty commodity production in Zinder, a regional capital in the Republic of Niger. Research was conducted in two phases. Archival materials, provided by the Planning Department in Zinder, and the Mayor's Office, enabled a ward-by-ward census of the artisanal population for the years 1971 and 1977. Sub? sequently I interviewed ten percent of these