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Madagascar The Fokonolona and Traditional Governance
Madagascar has a tradition of limited village self-rule
associated with the institution of the
fokonolona--a
village council composed of village elders and other local
notables. After having been alternately suppressed and
encouraged
by the French colonial authorities, authorities officially
revived the fokonolona in 1962 in an attempt to
involve
local communities in plans for rural economic and social
development. The perceived usefulness of the
fokonolona
derived from its traditional role of maintaining order in
the
village and providing social and economic assistance.
In 1973 the Ramanantsoa military regime furthered the
selfrule concept by establishing self-governing bodies at the
local
level. Government functionaries who were formerly
appointed were
to be replaced by elected officials. Yet it was not until
1975,
under the leadership of Ratsiraka, that the
fokonolona was
given constitutional recognition as the "decentralized
collective
of the state" responsible for economic, social, cultural,
and
municipal development at the local level. Despite his best
intentions, during Ratsiraka's rule the fokonolona
was
still far from an idealized self-governing institution.
Its
governing bodies were dominated, as in the past, by
conservative
elders, and participation by youth was either minimal or
not
encouraged by elders. Under the Zafy regime the
fokonolona
will continue to offer policy guidance at the local level,
but it
has been superseded by the Decentralized Territorial
Collectives.
The fokonolona often is characterized as one of
the
most characteristic Malagasy social institutions. It is,
in fact,
not a "pan-Malagasy" cultural element but an institution
that
evolved among the Merina and was implanted in other parts
of the
country by both the Merina and the French. Even among the
neighboring Betsileo, it is considered something of a
foreign
implantation. Nonetheless, the fokonolona offers
aid to
members in need (such as when a child is born or a funeral
is
held), undertakes village projects (such as the repair of
rice
fields or village buildings after a cyclone), coordinates
mutual
aid at planting and harvest time, and occasionally
chastises--or
ostracizes--those considered wrongdoers.
The fokonolona ties individuals together in a
network
of mutual obligations. Its meetings bring together in a
cooperative setting people of different kinship groups
within a
village, and the common use of fictive kinship terms
promotes the
creation of an atmosphere of amity and solidarity
(fihavanana), necessary for sincere cooperation.
The
fokonolona, however, traditionally has not been a
democratic institution despite its town-meeting character,
because its meetings tend to be dominated by influential
local
notables. Local political power remains a function of age
and
membership in a high-status kinship group; in some cases,
the
descendants of slaves (andevo) attend
fokonolona
meetings, but their influence is marginal.
At fokonolona meetings, it is possible to see
one of
Madagascar's most striking cultural expressions, the
kabary (discourse), a lengthy speech in which a
speaker
uses flowery and poetic language to make a critical point
in a
most indirect fashion. The people will listen silently
from
beginning to end. Those who disagree will not express
their
opinion but will counter with a speech that at first seems
to
support the first speaker but that actually contains a
hidden
counterproposal. Speakers may express their views by
telling
jokes. If people laugh or if they simply act according to
the
second speaker's proposal, the first has lost. Rarely if
ever
does an open confrontation between speakers occur.
Data as of August 1994
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