Taxation as a total social fact in Benin: An anthropological reading of the relations between state, society and solidarity

In Benin, taxation is often framed through a technical lens focused on revenue mobilization and fiscal performance, overlooking social, moral, and symbolic dimensions. Based on long-term qualitative fieldwork (January 2024–September 2025) across urban, rural, and peri-urban sites in southern, central, and northern Benin, this article offers an anthropological analysis of taxation as a Maussian total social fact, engaging economic, legal, political, and cultural logics. Findings show that tax obligations are assessed through moral economies of contribution, where family, community, and religious solidarities - perceived as more visible and socially effective- compete with state taxation. This competition undermines consent, fuels perceptions of illegitimacy, and reactivates memories of colonial coercion, particularly when redistribution remains opaque. The study highlights territorial fractures and generational and gendered differentiations, revealing situated forms of negotiation and contestation. It argues that fiscal legitimacy is produced through visible public goods, procedural justice, credible accountability, and articulation between state redistribution and local solidarities, key conditions for recomposing the social contract in postcolonial Benin.