Pollution and pastoral antipraxis: the issue of Maasai inequality

Abstract

The issue of the inequality of specialized classes in pastoral Maasai society is discussed in relation to Mary Douglas's theoretical contribution to the analysis of pollution. The Douglas view, which would emphasize the social marginality and classificatory ambiguity of Maasai hunters, blacksmiths, and diviners is criticized as leaving unexplained their multiple forms of pollution and the origin of their distinctiveness. In contrast, this paper claims that these classes lie at the symbolic genesis of pastoral identity, through involvement in forms of “antipraxis,” necessary to yet structurally contrasting to the ideal of pastoralism. Pollution and inequality are thus primary values, not secondary manifestations, that dialectically constitute, rather than reflect, the symbolic order of Maasai productive classes.