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Paper short abstract:

Are egalitarianism and capitalism totally incompatible in human society? Baka Pygmies have maintained and developped their own cacao plantations for decades. This paper describe how the Baka are trying to manage their capital, with maintaining the psychosocial principles of egalitarianism.

Paper long abstract:

Hunter-Gatherers living in central African forests are well known as to be among the most egalitarian peoples in the world. At Congo/ southeastern Cameroon border area, Baka hunter-gatherers adopted cacao farming. Cash crop cultivation brought a new sort of "inequality" among the Baka. Cash crop cultivation is evidently different activities from "immediate-returrn system" and how to make a "good" sharing of cash is often difficult problem to confuse many Baka. It seems quite difficult to keep and develop "wealth", with maintaining the psychosocial principles of egalitarianism. But the fact is that many Baka of the region have maintained and developped their own cacao plantations for more than 3 decades over generations. At the same time, some of them have also continued to practice long term hunting and gathering camps in the forest periodically up to today: they are trying and struggling to adapt to market economy without losing hunting and gathering life. In this presentation, I will focus 1) on the trials and errors being made by Baka to treat cacao plantations and cash which those plantations bring in their internal society, and 2) on the negotiation process concerning land and forest among the Baka, the Bakwele farmers, and the other merchant-farmers. The both points are strongly connected by local credit and finance system. After the description and analysis of quantative and qualitative data, today's Baka's perception of value on money, land, and labor will be reconsidered in relation to egalitarianism.