Livestock Individuality and their Commoditization: Are East African Pastoralists Capitalists?

Abstract

Economic anthropological studies of East African pastoral societies sometimes maintain that livestock are not only consumable commodities but can also be regarded as capital and money. It is also asserted that pastoral mode of production bears obvious similarities to the modern capitalism. As East African pastoral societies undergo great and rapid changes influenced by the penetration of world capitalism, it has become important to investigate how traditional economic systems are articulated with the new system.

This paper has two objectives. First, based on my observations among the Turkana in northwestern Kenya, I critically examine the arguments of two scholars: Harold K. Schneider, who maintained that livestock perform similar functions to money; and Paul Spencer, who considered that the pastoral mode of production is a variant of capitalism. Secondly, I point out that the Turkana have two distinct types of livestock exchange. One is carried out among close friends or relatives, in which defrayments of one party are sometimes deferred for a long period of time. The other exchange is between unrelated persons, in which the transaction is concluded on the spot. In conclusion, I argue that livestock have a unique “individuality” in East African pastoral societies, and that, in order to investigate the commoditization of livestock, it is important to examine closely how the livestock individuality is modified and erased.