1993/01/01 by Bernard Delpech · 5 citations
Social Sciences · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Migration, Identity, and Health #Agriculture and Rural Development Research #French Urban and Social Studies #Autonomy #Tribe #Turning point #Political science #Economy #Population #Geography #Development economics #Welfare economics #Sociology #Economics #Period (music)
paper · doi:10.3406/caoum.1993.3478
published in Cahiers d Outre-Mer 46(182), 175-193
openalex publication_date 1993/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
The Alukus of French Guiana at a Turning Point. The Aluku population, a tribe historically settled in the interior of Guiana, is badly shaken by the effects of modernity and a commercial economy : upheaval of their traditional material basis, changes of mentality, and breakdown in the rules and customs of communal living. The villages are emptying while in the main towns the pressure on the natural environment is slowly destroying a fragile balance. Along the coast, where many people move to, precarious forms of residential dwellings are multiplying, revelatory of the process of pauperism brought about by the loss of autonomy. The decline of foodstuff agriculture, the depletion of resources and a dépendance upon the monetary sector have led to a degradation in living conditions, which in turn have produced a sharp increase in diseases associated with food deficiency, the main victims of which are children. The spread of serious nutritional troubles is the most apparent sign of the havoc wrought by rapid and revolutionary changes on this small tribe. In the change to a consumer society, the Alukus are at the bottom of the social ladder and are sacrificing their rising generation, handicapped by the lack of professional qualifications. Taking into