David Maranz's African Friends And Money Matters

In his book, African Friends and Money Matters, anthropologist, David Maranz attempts to describe some of the everyday life differences between the African and Western culture. Maranz has lived and worked among several Africans since 1975. Maranz uses his own experiences of living overseas, but also acknowledges that his observations do not represent Africa as a whole. This book highlights how to utilize different cultural observations from the African culture. Maranz starts with an overview of differences between the Western and African economic system. Throughout over 80 observations, the author compiled his mission field experience into practical principles that can be applied. Maranz explores these observations by organizing the book into six sections: the use of resources, friendship, the role of solidarity, society and people of means, loans and debts, and business matters. The book defines and gives readers a generalized understanding of views on resources, financial assistance practices, purchasing habits, and …show more content…
There are no right or wrong cultural perspectives. The book makes a convincing argument that these observations can be used as a tool while doing working, traveling, or doing mission work in Africa. Maranz establishes the trust of the reader by stating that his observations are by no means set in stone.
The structure of this book entails explanations of the concept, followed by supporting data and examples. This setup is executed well throughout the book and the reader has several examples to comprehend information to refer back to. Maranz does a good job at presenting concepts that specifically differ with practices in the Western culture. There are many observations that go hand and hand. It is a good attempt at making sure the reader connects certain observations throughout the