Ritual and Social Organisation in an Egalitarian

Staging Social Structures: Ritual and Social Organisation in an Egalitarian Society. The Pastoral Pokot of Northern Kenya

Michael Bollig Univeisily of Cologne, Germany

ABSTRACT The pastoral Pokot of northern Ker)ya represent their society as highly structured by descent and age grading. Descent groups (clans, lineages) and age grades (age sets, generation sets) are depicted as bounded but related units within a complex hierarchical and coherent system, the essence of Pokot society which is staged and visualised in major rituals. This study shows that they are not important in Pokot economic exchange. The formal analysis of livestock exchange networks centred upon individuals shows that emic representations do not match actual exchange faehaviour. Complementing the well-established structuralist representation of pastoral social systems, this paper investigates the agency aspect, which has been largely unexplored. It furthermore documents how social exchange is contained in the various institutions of descent and age grading. Contextualising the case historically it is shown that the pastoral Pokot deveioped from a fragmented clan-based agro-pastoral society in which descent was the main ordering principle for land tenure and conflict management into a more comprehensive social entity with clearly definable borders to the outside, dense internal exchange networks and strong representations of the corporateness of subgroups. The rapid adoption of mobile livestock husbandry was accompanied by the rise ofwidespread exchange networks and social interaction with a much wider group of unrelated actors marking the foundations of a pastoral society. KEYWORDS Pokot, network analysis, social change, ritual, pastoralists

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any important contributions to tbe analysis of social structure were based on research in stateless, egalitarian African societies such as tbe Nuer and the Tallensi (Kuper 1983). A generation of antbropologists became thrilled by abstractions which resulted in marvellous charts of segmentary genealogies and complex gerontocratic systems (see for example Evans Pritcbard I95i:i8f, Lewis i96i:Appendix). Unilineal descent ETHNOS, VOL. 6 5 : 3 , 2OOO ( p p . 3 4 I - 3 6 5 ) © Routledge Joumals, Taylor and Francis Ltd, on behalf of the Nationa) Museum of Ethnography ISSN OOI4-1844 PRINT/ISSN I469-588X ONLINE. DOi: IO.I080/0OI4184OO2OO134O2

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groups and age grades were interpreted as major structural features of rural African societies. Nadel (1957) depicted the process ofarriving at social structures: 'We arrive at the structure of a society through abstracting from the concrete population and its behaviour the pattern of network ... of relationships obtaining "between actors in their capacity of playing roles relative to one another'." (Nadel 1957 quoted in Schweizer 1992:19). Here social anthropologists had found a handy formula describing what to do in order to find social structure: interview or observe a 'concrete population and its behaviour', then abstract from it and find the hidden structures! Social structures were constituted by institutions fixing individual behaviour through sets of interrelated rules, thereby guaranteeing order and social cohesion (for a critique see Schweizer i996:3if). It was taken for granted that unilineal descent and age grading determined social interaction to a large extent. Individual behaviour and social exchange were by and large embedded into these pristine structures. This paper tries to contextualise the structuralist approach to social systems. Based on a case study of the pastoral Pokot of Kenya I wish to show that an analysis of economic exchange as formulated by formal network analysis (Schweizer 1996; Wellman and Berkowitz 1997) provides structures different from emic visions of corporate social entities. Gohesiveness, non-centralisation and the absence of clearly discernible subgroups or clusters are structures that are directly derived from the data. Among tbe Pokot descent groups and age groups act as corporate social entities in very special, culturally defined arenas such as ritual, marriage arrangements and internal conflict resolution. They do not have any sizeable impact on individual exchange behaviour. In ritual, however, Pokot dramatically stage their visions of their society and communicate their imagination of a 'strong' and highly structured society. Before focusing the discussion on social organisation andritual,I provide a condensed ethnography of the Pokot (for further information see Schneider 1953; Bollig 1992,1993,1998a, 1999). The pastoral Pokot, about 40,000 people in the early 1990s, living in the savannas of northwestern Kenya, make use of a semi-arid habitat by means ofberds of camels, cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys. The Pokot try to insure themselves against various hazards such as droughts, epidemics, and raiding through herd diversification, dispersal of the household herd, flexible labour allocation, spatial mobility and widespread exchange networks (Bollig 1994,1998a; for a very similar set of risk-minimising strategies amongst the neighbouring and better studied Turkana seejohnson 1999)While pasture and waterholes are communally owned, livestock is private property. Compared to other East African herder societies (see McGabe 1999 ETHNOS, VOL. 65:3, 2000 (pp. 34I-365)

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on the Turkana, Ensminger 1992 on the Orma; Goppock 1993 on the Borana; Little 1992 on the Njemps; and Spencer 1998 on comparative data on East African pastoral systems) differences in the size of livestock herds are rather small. Droughts, raids and livestock epidemics render wealth hierarchies unstable (Bollig 1990a, 1995,1999)- Economic alternatives such as trade, handicrafts and wage labour are of little importance. Informal neighbourhood councils coordinate the communal use of pastures and wells (Gonant 1965; Bollig 1999). There is no pastoral elite dominating the group economically or politically. An egalitarian ideology permeates the discourse of age sets, descent groups and internal conflict regulation. Pokot Social Structures: Local Presentations of Lineages and Age Sets The literature on the social organisation of herder communities in East Africa exposes the complex structures of age groups and descent groups of the Borana (Baxter 1978), the Maasai (Jacobs 1968), the Samburu (Spencer 1965,1973) and the Turkana (Gulliver 1955). Peristiany's work on the age set system of the pastoral Pokot (Peristiany 1951) and on Pokot descent groups (Peristiany 1954) offered valuable insights on Pokot society from a structuralist perspective. Harold Schneider's ethnography of pastoral and agro-pastoral Pokot (Schneider 1953) pointed out the importance of livestock exchange networks for the understanding of the pastoral economy. In order to comprehend Pokot social organisation I started myfirstfieldwork in 1987 by talking to male key informants, usually senior members of the community, who had been pointed out to me as being knowledgahle on the culture of the Pokot [otap nyopo Pokot). They elaborated on the numerous patrilineal descent groups and their various connections and gave details of the complicated age-cum-generation set system. It was a presentation by males on spheres of social organisation constituted foremost hy men. The women I asked on aspects of their society, however, gave similar accounts, if not in so much detail. Their sphere of day-to-day interaction, the neighbourhood, is not touched upon in the following presentation. Informants offered a surprisingly structured and uncontroversial image of Pokot social organisation, a shared vision of the Pokot social system. According to them the social structure of the pastoral Pokot was based on patrilineal descent groups and age groups. Both types of corporate groups could be mapped nicely: there were ahout twenty clans {Jilo) which in turn consisted of several lineages {or, ortin) each. The genealogical depth of these descent groups ETHNOS, VOL. 65:3, 20OO (pp. 34I-365)

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varied from tbree to seven generations. Male ancestors could be named and genealogical links to them were well preserved. Clan specific traditions described tbe liveliboods of earlier lineage members, tbeir move into pastoralism and tbeir migrations. The size of lineages differed considerably, some consisting ofjust some few households and otbers numbering more than fifty households in the research region alone. Clans were exogamous and were united under a specific symbol, such as rain (the Ngzisur), the snake (the Kiptinko), or the fire sticks (tbe Koimo). Althougb clans were envisioned as patrilineal descent groups, bistorical links rarely went beyond tbe founder of tbe lineage. There were no founding ancestors for clans. Historical traditions relating to early clan history dwelled in mythological metaphors and related to a world in which natural attributes of tbe universe did not hold yet: there were speaking animals, virgin birtbs and monsters. Cattle brands, a set of symbols {enwait) and songs on descent group origin {kililyet) are clan-specific. Beyond that tbere was little formal organisation on clan or on lineage level. While clans had no common formal organisation (no clan leader, no common property) representations of tbe descent system rendered tbem as corporate entities. Figure i shows the order of tbe two clans Ngusur and Soliongot consisting of six and ten lineages respectively. Ngusur and Soliongot were united as Terik, a level whicb could be termed macro-clan, but did not hold the exogamous character of a clan nor did it have any symbolic representation on its own account.* Not all clans unite in a dual clan structure Hke the one pointed out for the Terik above. Some clans fall into two exogamous sections with different clan symbols, like tbe Talai (monkey and crow) and tbe Logene (frog and camel). In these cases rules of exogamy rest with the totemic section and not with tbe clan. In two cases two clans shared the same symbol: Kipkumir and Siwotoy clans bave tbe buffalo as their 'totem' and Oro and some Logene lineages share the camel. Because of these symbolic equations people of these clans do not marry each otber. Wbile these inconsistencies bint at a more complex bistory offissionand fusion of descent groups, tbe basic patrilineal structure remains uncontested: a grouping of lineages congregates into an exogamous clan. Unlike the Nuer, tbe Somali or the Tallensi, Pokot clans are not further assorted into a segmentary charter. Tbere are no clans and lineages whicb could claim political dominance. Even 'adopted' lineages bold the same status as lineages regarded as original Pokot descent.

ETHNOS, VOL, 65:3, 2000 (pp. 34I-365)

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Terik (a unit of two clans, there is no Pokot term denoting this level with an abstract term) clan (lilo)

clan (lilo)

NGUSUR

SOLIONGOT

symbol; rain

symbol: thunder'

lineages (ortin)

lineages (ortin)

Kachepkai

Kachepunyo

Kaponot (adopted)

Kaparwas

Kamechin

Katoye

Katetirwa

Kamkan

Kasitim

Ksoncho

Karapiny

Kamarmar Kachepawan Kakitiny Kaporet Kamwotyony

Fig. /: The structure of the Pokot lineage system

Clan organisation is essential for the arrangement of marriages. There are numerous rules which guide a prospective groom when seeking a bride. In another publication (Bollig 1998a) I reported on the complex regulations controlling marriages. A man must not marry from his previous wives' clan, his mother's clan, his father's wives' clans and his father's mother's clan. He should not engage in marriage with members of clans his siblings have married to. While a prospective groom has to generate most of his bridewealth from within the household, incoming bridewealth payments are redistributed within the extended kindred network and amongst friends. The clan system orders and organises marriages and to a very limited extent channels the distribution of bridewealth payments, but on the whole has little effect on resource control. Through separate initiation rituals each man becomes a member of an age set [asapantin) and of a generation set {p'in). Membership of one set involves egalitarian, almost brotherly relations with one's peers on the one hand, and submission under a gerontocratic age-based hierarchy on the other hand. Initiation into generation sets {tuni) only takes place every twenty-five to thirtyfive years when numerous young men and boys are circumcised together and ETHNOS, VOL. 65:3, 2OOO (pp. 34I-365)

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from then on constitute one generation set (BolHg 1990c). These are not generations in the strict (Oromo) sense, with recruitment through the patriline. They rather represent broad age strata. The only strict rule applied is that nobody may end up in the same generation set as his father. At each stage three generations are alive. The system embraces a junior or warrior generation {miron), a generation of seniors and a generation of elders (collectively adressed aspoy). Once most members of the generation of ritual elders have died, a new set has to be initiated. Thus the former warriors become seniors and the former seniors become ritual elders. TTiere are a total of six generation sets in rotation^ (Bollig 1990c, 1992:85, 1994; Sutton 1990). By contrast, membership of an age set is attained at a fixed age. Boys of seventeen to twenty years of age undergo the sapana ritual (BolHg 1990c). In this celebration they slaughter an ox in a ritually prescribed way and are 'washed' with the stomach contents of this ox. Later they are formally endowed with the signs of manhood: they are given the men's colourful headdress [siolif) and are allowed to drink milk {cho) and blood [kiso'n) with other young men from bowls which are placed at the centre of the sacred kirkeU the semicircle of initiated men in which seating is arranged strictly according to generation set and age set. Each initiation set, i.e. those boys who were initiated in one particular year, is given a name which is reminiscent of a special event of that particular year or initiation period. After some ten to twenty years, between four and seven sets are united into one set and the set with the most memhers will usually give its name to the united set. These age sets do not cluster together neatly to form one generation set. Members of the Ditimong age set, for example, belong to two different generation sets, either to the Ghumwo generation or the Koronkoro generation. Likewise, while most members of the Ngelomum age set belong to the Kaplelach generation set, some older members belong to the Koronkoro generation set. These inconsistencies do not disturb the picture that most age sets are clearly associated with one generation set. However, the incongruities underline the observation that both systems of age grading work fairly independently from each other. This view is reasserted by oral traditions which emphasise that while generation sets are ancient, age sets are fairly recent social innovations coming about with pastoral intensification early in the 19th century. In addition all men belong to one of the alternations Ngetei^he Stones) or Ngimur(lhe Leopards). If the father of a man is Ngimurhis son will be member of the 7\^f/w" alternation. Alternation membership is shown by the type of metal used for ear-rings and bracelets. While Ngimurwear ornaments ETHNOS, VOL. 65:3, 2OOO (pp. 34I-365)

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made from iron and copper, the NgeteiwQzr brass. Age sets and generation sets constitute a complex gerontocratic system (the Turkana and Karimojong have similar alternations). The gerontocratic system provides a clear set of rules to delimit competition between individuals. Through gerontocratic rule juniors are barred from acquiring many wives at an early stage in their careers. Nobody may marry 'his own daughters', i.e. daughters of comrades of bis generation set. Wbile members of the Cbumwo generation may marry daughters of men of the Koronkoro and Kaplelacb generations, tbe Koronkoro marry daugbters of men of tbe Chumwo and Kaplelach and the Kaplelacb daughters of Cbumwo and Koronkoro men. Tbe Kaplelacb, tbe youngest set, are obviously disadvantaged, as unmarried daugbters of Cbumwo (tbe most senior generation) are rare and they compete with Chumwo elders for the daughters of Koronkoro men. Tbis 'gerontocratic bias' is clearly shown in tbe figures on polygyny and household composition: while Chumwo elders (n = 53) had 3.6 wives on average, Koronkoro seniors (n = 236) had 2.5 wives and Kaplelacb juniors (n = r48) 1.7 wives; the size of households differed from 22.9 members for household heads of tbe Chumwo generation, to 14.0 for the Koronkoro and 8.1 for the Kaplelach. Witbin an age grade competition is ruled out by an ideology of comradeship and solidarity. There is, of course, competition between age grades givingriseoccasionally to fierce discussions and even stick fights. Tbese conflicts are then mediated in major rituals bringing togetber tbe different sets and reuniting tbem ceremoniously. Neither age sets nor generation sets control any form of common property. There are no defined property or excbange relations between elders and juniors, as for example among the Maasai, tbe Borana and the Dassanetch where elders sponsor specific juniors. In contrast to long-held beliefs also Pokot age sets are not essential in organising warfare (see also Baxter 1978). After some months of research I had the impression tbat clans, lineages, age sets and generation sets are corporate and that the social structure shapes the network of relationsbips between various actors to a large degree. According to Pokot presentations of their social system I thought tbat major transactions would be channelled within tbese corporate groups which apparently were tbe most prominent elements of Pokot social organisation. After listening to many informants I envisioned lineages and age groups as corporate interest groups controlling property and exchange. In order to document the actual exchange network, I started to collect data on transactions between households. ETHNOS, VOL. 65:3, 2000 (pp.

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Materials and Methods

The Pokot exchange network was obtained systematically: a partial network consisting of 3 7 households from a wider neighbourhood was defined and kinship relations as well as transactions (bridewealth exchange, distribution of incoming bridewealth, livestock loans) between them were noted down. I concentrated on exchanges regarded as important by the herders. These exchanges usually involved the exchange of livestock. Schneider (1953) already elaborated on the importance of livestock exchanges beyond the realm of kin groups for Pokot social organisation (see especially Schneider's discussion of the /;'/I/J2/concept). In addition to exchanges within this set of households I recorded relations with actors in distant neighbourhoods too. All herders maintained such ties and thought them highly valuable. Many tried consciously to spread these exchange relations: once they had taken up an exchange relation with a herder in one place they would preferably seek for herders from other communities for further exchanges. These distant exchange partners, however, were not considered in the formal network analysis presented here. Households {kaw, keston) are localised units and usually correspond to an extended family (see Bollig 1999 for a description of Pokot household organisation). I interviewed the bead of the household on the exchange relations he engaged in. Women own livestock to some degree but rarely engage in major livestock transactions. However, men take the livestock they want to invest into social exchange from parts of the herd allotted to one of the women. In Pokot households virtually all animals of tbe household herd are given to one of the women of the homestead to take care of The animal given away in exchange results in obligations on the side of the beneficiary. Once he returns his obligation the animal (or the animals) will he returned to the part of the herd the original animal was taken from. Should the beneficiary die before he reciprocates, one of his sons has to take on the obligation with his inheritance and should repay the donator, or in case of his death, the wife (or her sons alternatively) from whom the original animal 'opening' the exchange was taken from. Hence women are intensely interested in the exchange relations their husbands engage in. While it is up to the men to select appropriate partners, women, too, will look into the maintenance of the tie and will do what they can to ensure that one of their sons finally profits from the exchange. In 1988/89 and again in 1992 and 1993 I sampled information on local exchange networks (Bollig 1998a). The formal analysis of network data was run with the programme UCINET (Borgatti, Everett & Freeman 1992; for the ETHNOS, VOL. 65:3, 2OOO (pp. 34I-365)

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application of formal network analysis to ethnographic cases see Schweizer 1996 and Schweizer and White 1998), designed to detect structural characteristics of networks. I will continue to briefly pinpoint structural characteristics of Pokot networks. To highlight and contrast formal measures of Pokot networks I will furthermore introduce data on Himba networks. Between 1994 and 1996 I carried out 25 months of fieldwork with the pastoral nomadic Himba of northern Namibia. As the Himba are not used primarily as an ethnographic comparison but rather for technical reasons it should suffice to draw attention to some recent publications on the Himba (Bollig 1997,1998b; Wolputte 1999). In some aspects of their economy the Himba are fairly similar to the Pokot. Settlement patterns and spatial mobility are determined by the needs of large cattle and smallstock herds. Wealth differences in Himba society are more pronounced than among the Pokot and seem to he fairly stable. On the whole Himba society is more stratified than Pokot society is. Within a double descent system, wealth is mainly channelled through matrilineal descent groups while patrilineal descent groups dominate the ritual sphere. Data on Himba networks is introduced here to highlight and contrast formal measures of Pokot networks. The network recorded amongst the Himba has a similar size to the Pokot network and considers a similar set of exchanges. Results

Simple Measures of Structural Characteristics: Density, Centralisation

DENSITY. Density measures the cohesiveness of a network. The measure is defined as the number of existing relations divided by the number of potential relations (Schweizer 1996:177). The density of the Pokot network is at D = 0.359 (that is, roughly a third of all possible relations were realised).'' This figure suggests that the density and cohesiveness of the Pokot network is very high. DEGREE-CENTRALISATION. The measure for degree-centralisation relates to the entire graph and not to single actors only. The degree measures the number of direct exchange relations one actor has. Hence degree is a measure for the activity of an actor within the network. The degree-centralisation measures the variation (scattering) of degrees in the net. UCINET transfers the measures for centralisation into percentages. A percentage of 0% indicates that all actors are active in the network to the same degree, a percentage of 100% shows that one actor has drawn all exchanges to himself (Schweizer . The measure for degree-centralisation then shows to what exETHNOS, VOL. 65:3, 2000 (pp. 34I-365)

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tent a network is dominated by individuals. Tbe value for degree-centralisation in the Pokot network was at 21.19 ('" ^^^ comparative Himba network tbe value was at 44.63). This indicates that in tbe Pokot network tbere were few actors who were able to concentrate exchanges upon themselves and that many actors were actively participating in exchanges. CLOSENESS-CENTRALISATION. Closeness-centralisation measures tbe speed of interaction within a net and again looks at the entire graph. A value of 100% occurs if one point in tbe net has direct links to all otber actors, while all other points can reach any other point only via two steps (tbe prototypical star). If all points have the same distances from eacb otber tbe measure will be 0% (Schweizer j^^6:i8j{r}. Those actors are central which are connected on sbort patbs with each other. The closer an actor stands to all others tbe more effective and independently of the others he can act. The value for closeness-centralisation among the Pokot is fairly low at 20.46, suggesting that Pokot actors are not successful in attaining central positions within this network. For tbe Himba network the measure is double the size (at 42.87), indicating more central actors witbin this network. Tbis suggests that we find more egalitarian exchange relations in tbe Pokot network tban in tbe Himba network; literally speaking tbe Pokot are closer to each otber tban the Himba are. Table i summarises data on structural characteristics and juxtaposes it to comparable figures for tbe Himba.

Density Degree Centralisation % Closeness Centralisation %

Pokot

Himba

0.359 21.19 20.46

0.153 44.63 42.87

Table I. Structural Characteristics afbath Pokot and Himba Networks Compared

Tbisfirstglance at structural properties of tbe network suggests tbat the Pokot network is highly cohesive and shows a low degree of centralisation. There are no actors who are really central nor are there actors who are really peripheral. All actors are very close to each other; furthermore tbey are also very similar to eacb other, as the analysis of structural properties of single actors shows (see below). Pokot actors displayed major similarities in regard to (degree)centraiity, closeness and hetweenness. ETHNOS, VOL. 65:3, 2000 (pp. 34I-365)

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Structural Properties of Single Actors: Degree, Closeness and Betweenness Centrality Formal network analysis is not only concerned with structural properties of networks but analyses the positions of single actors within the structure of the network. Degree, closeness and hetweenness-centrality are measures that differentiate the structural properties of single actors and describe the prominence of individual actors within tbe net. Degree centrality is a measure for the activity of an actor within the net, high values are attached to active actors, low values describe passive actors. The more relations an actor has within the net, the more central he is. Closeness-centrality is a measure for the speed of interaction within the net (Schweizer 1996:186). Those actors are central who are related to others through short paths, i.e. rarely have to go through intermediate actors. Hence closeness-centrality is a measure for the autonomy of actors within the net — how close is Ego to other actors within the net and bow often does he have to address intermediaries to contact a third person.^' In contrast to degree-centrality, closeness-centrality also measures indirect links and therefore gives a more complete idea of the total network. Like closeness-centrality, betweenness-centrality looks at direct and indirect links between actors. Betweenness-centrality is a measure for the frequency an actor has to he consulted by others who want to get into contact with each other. How many times is an Ego between two other actors who want to interact.? The actor in the middle, between others, can make use of his broker position to control information and resource flows. The variation of these three measures is low across all actors among the Pokot. Again a comparison with the Himba network emphasises peculiarities of the Pokot network. The figures for standard deviations are consistently higher for the Himba network than for the Pokot network for measures like degree-centrality, betweenness and closeness, indicating that the Pokot sample is much more homogeneous than the Himba sample. The actors in the Himba network show higher mean values on degree centrality (38.52 compared to 19.68) and betweenness-centrality (39-07 compared to 23.78), while the actors In the Pokot network attain a higher value for closeness-centrality (66.78 compared to 56.69). Table 2 summarises the findings which underline these assumptions: the Pokot network is homogeneous, actors are very close to each otber and there are few (if any) key players who concentrate exchanges upon themselves or who are able to inhibit or facilitate exchanges between others. The dense network rests upon a multitude of dyadic ties. ETHNOS, VOL. (>S'2^ 2000 (pp. 34I-365)

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Mean Std Dev Sum

Variance EucNorm Minimum Maximum

Pokot Degree

Himba Degree

Pokot Between

Himba Between

Pokot Closenes5

19.68 4.94 728.00 24.38 123.39 8.00 29.00

38.52 23.20 1618.00 538.44 291.45 5.00 126.00

23.78 12.96 880.00 168.00 164.76 3.32 59.00

39.07 44.61 1641.00 1989.94 384.31 0.00 233.68

66.78 5.00 2470.92 24.99 407.35 56.25 76.60

Tabte 2. Degree. Betweenness, Closeness Centrality in Pokot end Himba

Himba Closeness 56.69 6.59 2381.01 43.48 369.88 37.27 77.36

Networks

Relational Anal/sis: Cliques^ Clusters and Factions Gliques are 'Gohesive subgroups ... of actors among whom there are relatively strong, direct, intense, frequent or positive ties' (Wassermann and Faust 1994:249). A clique is defined as a complete subgraph of three or more points. The structural analysis of cliques looks for actors of the network who are more closely tied among themselves than with their surrounding. The comparison of the representations for Pokot and Himba shows differences at a first glance (see Fig. 2): While more than a third (40.5%) of all Pokot actors is involved in 22 to 40 small cliques, there is not a single Himba actor who is involved in as many cohesive subgroups. Only two actors (5.4%) in the Pokot netw^ork are involved infiveor fewer cliques. In stark contrast 22 Himha actors (52.4%) are involved in five or fewer cliques. A clear majority of Pokot actors are engaged in numerous cliques, while a clear majority of Himba are only engaged in few cliques. Thesefiguresunderline the impression that the Himba network is fragmented while the Pokot network is constituted by actors closely connected to each other. Positional Analysis A positional analysis (UCINET/CONCOR) sorts actors together who have a similar pattern of relations to their surrounding, taking into account all the existing and non-existing relations of one actor. Structural holes and zones of condensation within the network are identified. In both networks a threeblock model fits the data best (Pokot, r = .208 , Himba r = .227) (for a discussion of positional analysis see Schweizer i