The Waning Caste System of The Gambia

Authors : Akpojevbe Omasanjuwa

Pages : 897-919

Doi:10.30622/tarr.1800430

View : 82 | Download : 179

Publication Date : 2025-12-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study examines how caste shapes social relations in The Gambia through the lens of Blalock’s (1967) Group Threat Hypothesis and assesses the extent to which Western education can be credited with addressing caste-related concerns. It focuses on explaining why caste appears to weaken in urban settings while remaining more resilient and firmly maintained in rural areas, and it establishes parallels by considering the effects of similar hierarchical practices in other parts of the world. Drawing on analyses of population size, internal migration, poverty indicators, and access to high school education, the paper shows a clear pattern: as urban caste profiling wanes, rural Gambians tend to hold on to caste identities and boundaries more tenaciously. In cities, labor markets, mixed educational environments, and higher mobility increase everyday intergroup contact, which can dilute overt labeling and reduce the salience of caste markers. In rural areas, however, persistent poverty, limited educational opportunities, and restricted social mobility reinforce perceptions of competition and “threat,” thereby sustaining caste-based differentiation and making caste identities more visible in everyday life. The paper further argues that an unintended consequence of a change in political dispensation was the emergence of an unprecedented expansion in education—particularly through new schools and broader access—which ostensibly contributed to the decline of urban caste profiling. Yet comparisons with neighboring societies suggest that while other socially repugnant practices may resist transformation, Western education often operates by selectively masking caste in urban contexts rather than eliminating it altogether. Education may encourage a desired modification of public behavior, but it does not, by itself, regulate the deeper character of individuals or society. Durable parity, the study concludes, falls primarily within the domain of effective law enforcement, governance, and sustained institutional commitment, without which caste boundaries risk reasserting themselves even in modernizing contexts.
Keywords : Sosyal Antropoloji, Kast, Ayrimcilik, Gambiya, Kirsal Yoksulluk

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