'Sorghum Wealth' versus 'Money Wealth', or the Hybrid Nature of Post-tribal Economies

The paper discusses the results of fieldwork among the Daba in Cameroon and the Dogon in Mali. The author confronts indigenous conceptualisation of wealth distinguishing both 'sorghum wealth' and 'money wealth' with such theoretical constructs as 'post-tribal society', 'tribal economics', pristine affluence and 'petite production marchande'. The analysis of specific behaviors and conceptualizations of the chosen conceptual category from the Daba and Dogon worlds shows how the process of hybridization of contemporary African rural communities culture has contributed towards coexistence of cultural patterns typical for the domestic mode of production (subsistence logic) and patterns that are taken over from a market economy (small-scale, commercial farming and income logic).