Intersexos interetnias. Producción y reproducción doméstica del grupo Ovahimba en el actual sistema capitalista de Namibia (África Austral)

Abstract

This work analyses a present type of interethnic relationships in Namibia ( Southern Africa ). The Ovahimba ethnic group of the north west of the country suffered throughout history different ways of accentuation of “ethnicity” and “tradition”. This can be seen today, among other aspects, in their ways of domestic production and reproduction, that are described in the text from the actors' perspective. This etnicization of the domestic sphere tinges on the one hand, the content of social relationships inside the ethnic group and, on the other hand, the relationship between the group production and the work of society as a whole. By means of the analysis of the exchange sphere, where the Ovahimba sell their cattle as “free individuals” and “private owners”, it is revealed that class relationships penetrate the ethnic “community”, resulting in men appropriation of female work.