Palaver
The Toguna of the village of Endé in 'Pays Dogon'
The Palaver refers to a custom of meeting and building or maintaining social links, and operates as an egalitarian institution where members of a community or village engage with one another. It is foundational to the settlement of a dispute without violence (Chevrier, 2005).
The meetings themselves take place anywhere – a traditional house or hut, or under a baobab tree – that is reserved and dedicated for the palaver process, oftentimes differing from region to region. For instance, in Toguna, Dogon County, Mali, a low-roofed structure is reserved the for the process. The use of a low roof is deliberate, in order to prevent anyone from standing up and taking the upper hand in a fight (Oborji, 2020). In the Baoulé community, based on the circumstances, meetings are held under the “apatame” or the traditional arbour of the village chief, which is typically situated in front of his house. In some cases, the chief may visit the house of the individuals in question (Babo, 2018). Among the Fangs and Bulu in Central Africa, palaver takes place inside a guardhouse known as Aba (Bidima, 1997). In Liberia, the palavers are a very common form of conflict resolution, with dedicated palaver halls at most villages as the site for such resolution (Ciment, 2013; Afolabi et al., 2019).
Palaver is effectively an interactive dialogue that brings to life the affairs of many African communities, while pursuing holistic interventions on a variety of issues concerning life, and and the maintenance of relationships within the hierarchy of existence (Oborji, 2020). It is a mode of reconciliation that evokes dialogue within a public reconciliation process.
Palavers create physical, social, and psychological space for open communications, in order to integrate people into the life and expectations of their communities (Scheid, 2011). The palavers also serve to support their communities through healing sickness, educating on moral standards, and reconcile differences. It is fundamentally built on a commitment to open communication, truth telling, developing a shared sense of the past, and reconciliation at the communal level (Scheid, 2011).
References
Afolabi, O. S., Idowu, H. A., & Forpoh, G. T. (2019). "Liberia: Understanding Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Post-Conflict Societies". Conflict Studies Quarterly (26): 3–21.
Aihiokhai, S. A. A. (2023). The Enduring Power of Palaver as a Tool for Fostering Socio-Cosmological Harmony: An African Response to the Culture of War in Our World. Journal of Catholic Social Thought, 20(2), 223-240.
Babo, A. (2018). Traditional Mechanisms of Conflict Resolution in Modern Africa: The Bodior Ritual and the Enduring Kroumen Versus Lobi-Dagara Conflict in Southern Côte D'ivoire. African Study Monographs, 39(2), 83-95.
Bidima, J. G. (1997). La palabre: une juridiction de la parole. Paris: Michalon.
Ciment, J. (2013). Another America : the story of Liberia and the former slaves who ruled it. NY.
Chevrier, J. (2005). L'arbre à palabres : essai sur les contes et récits traditionnels d'Afrique noire. Paris: Hatier.
Oborji, F. A. (2020). The African palaver reconciliation model and mission. International Review of Mission, 109(2), 222-235.
Mulemfo, M. M. (1996). Palaver as a dimension of communal solidarity in Zaire: A missiological study on transgression and reconciliation. Missionalia: Southern African Journal of Mission Studies, 24(2), 129-147.
Scheid, A. F. (2011). Under the palaver tree: Community ethics for truth-telling and reconciliation. Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, 17-36.
