ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some of the elements that produce the hybridized quality of local order in rural Sierra Leone by exploring the order-making functions of the Poro, a central secret society in the country. Supported by empirical evidence, the chapter argues that authority is dispersed among a multitude of actors who incorporate disparate rationalities and registers that are produced through ever-evolving processes of hybridization. It demonstrates the Poro’s general political function as a men’s association and shows how it conditions access to and control of resources and generates and resolves conflicts. The chapter explores when and under what conditions the Poro and the Sierra Leone Police become intertwined, molded together, and merge with one another in the constitution of local order-making. It also explores a case of land dispute in which Poro membership and its lack was central to its resolution. The chapter discusses how and under what conditions the state police engage in Poro affairs.
