This project involves the dissertation research of a student of cultural anthropology from the University of Michigan. The project will study a pastoral people in Tanzania, East Africa. The question to be asked is how global processes of capitalist market change have changed the local rural economies, specifically in the evolution of cattle-raiding. The student will test the hypothesis that closer connections with the national state and regional markets have expanded the scope of cattle raiding. Using ethnographic methods of intensive interviews and observation in two rural villages as well as the study of local and regional archives and documents, the project will analyze how the increased commodity value of cattle has affected their importance in ceremonial and prestige activities in these societies. This research is important because in addition to expanding our expertise in this important regional of the world, the study will illuminate the process by which the international capitalist market expands into local-scale traditional areas, transforming local practices into larger-scale commercial practices.
