Women’s Houses, Men’s Cities
Descent, Age, and Power in a Matrilineal Muslim Society (Ngazidja, Comoros)
Distributed for HAU
Women’s Houses, Men’s Cities
Descent, Age, and Power in a Matrilineal Muslim Society (Ngazidja, Comoros)
Through a case study of a Muslim and matrilineal society that is also organized into male age groups, this book sheds light on the question of how matrilineality persists in the contemporary world.
On the island of Ngazidja in the Comoros Archipelago, social life unfolds at the crossroads of several powerful traditions. Descent and property pass through women, anchoring families in matrilineal houses. Men organize themselves into age-based political assemblies that govern towns and villages, while Islam provides the legal and ritual framework of everyday life.
At the heart of this complex society lies the Great Marriage, a spectacular ceremony of exchange that confers status and reshapes the life course. Both coveted and controversial—admired for its prestige yet criticized for its immense cost—it drives social ambition, economic circulation, and migration, often linking the island to Comorian communities in France.
By tracing the intertwined lives of women and men, houses and cities, ritual and migration, this book offers a vivid portrait of Ngazidja and a fresh perspective on the Comoros within the wider Swahili world, where local traditions meet the currents of globalization.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Matrilineality in Question
Matrilineality as an Adaptation to the Environment
Matrilineality and the Exercise of Power: Solving the So-Called Puzzle
Women’s Houses, Men’s Cities
Conditions of the Survey
Part I. Matrilineal Institutions
Chapter One. Descent and Kinship: The House
Rules of Filiation and Residence
Kinship Terminology
Family Dwelling: The Mother’s House
Composition of the Domestic Group
The Agricultural Production Unit
Kinship Relationships
The Inalienable Property of the Property Group
The Property Group
Definition of Manyahuli
Control and Transfer of Group Assets: Inalienability
The Practice of Manyahuli
The Role of Men
Hulia, a Strong Woman
Elder Brother and Sister, Heads of the House
The Mother’s House in Comorian Rituals and Imagination
Chapter Two. Alliance and Residence: The Mobility of Men
Forms of Marriage
Payments and Residence Terms of Exchange
A Man’s Houses
The Son’s Vala
The Bride’s House (Doroso)
The [Husband’s] Entry into the House
The Hierarchy of a Man’s Houses
Use of the House by the Brother and the Husband
Affinity
The Affine in the House: Shimedji
The Husband: A Progenitor for the Household
Seed and Blood: Theories of Procreation
Paternal Recognition of the Child
Circumcision
The “Father Of The House,” Mbaba Daho
The Paradoxes of the Relationship with the Father
Blood and Name
The Transmission of Masculine Power: The Strong Man
Cross-Cutting Networks
Chapter Three. The City: A Political Unit
Residents: Natives and Outsiders
Public Spaces
Who Governs the City? Political Institutions
Fathers and Sons
Governing According to the Ãda Na Mila Law
Livening Up the Celebrations
Hierarchy of Lineages
Matrilineages in the City
Cities in the Country
Social Divisions
The Inferiorization of Fishermen
The Imitation of Institutions by the Descendants of Slaves
Part II. Gender, Power, and Personal Achievement
Chapter Four. Becoming an Accomplished Man: Father and King of the City
The Political Construction of Age
The Education of Men
Learning to Produce Resources
Learning How to Behave Toward People Older and Younger Than Oneself
Gaining Respect and Maintaining One’s Rank
Reigning
Formal or Informal Individualization
Hierarchy of Lineages in Age-Groups
Hierarchy of Lineages in Commensality Groups of Accomplished Men
The Rules of the Mdji Group: Descent and Alliance
The Sharing of Cattle Meat, an Indexation of Hierarchy
Political Assemblies and Matrilineal Descent Groups
Ages and Lineages in the City: Variations and Common Principles
Male Self-Generation Processes
Becoming King of the City: Political Action
The Signs of Power: Clothing, Swords, Gold
Becoming a Fisherman: A World Apart?
Chapter Five. Becoming An Accomplished Woman: Mother of Ãda
Age Categories and Women’s Careers
Becoming a Daughter of Ãda
The Husband’s Entry into the House
The Exit of the Initiates, the Husband and Wife of Ãda
Women and the Circulation of Men
The “Daughter of Ãda” Marries Off Her Brother
The Example of the Mahuwu in Dembeni
Becoming a Mother of Ãda
An Initiatory Cycle
Houses Without Daughters
The Younger Houses
Female Accomplishment
The Women’s Groups
Women’s Beya: Lineages and Generations
Recruitment Rules
Role of the Beya in a Woman’s Life
Women’s Groups and Male Partners
New Women’s Associations
Chapter Six. Limits and Future of Matrilineality in Ngazidja
Matrilineality on Economic Change
The Agrarian Economy
Matrilineal Dynamics in a Market Economy Context
Are Islam and Matrilineality Contradictory?
The Impact of Other Sociological and Political Models
Is a Great Marriage for All Possible?
The Production of Men and Matrilineality
Vitality of Matrilineality and the City
City and Migration
Cities and Houses in Formerly Servile Communities
Matrilineality and Citizenship Criteria
Conclusion
Appendices
Glossary
Index
References
List of Tables and Figures