Project Details
Projekt
Political Orders in the Making: a comparative study of emerging forms of political organisation from Libya to Northern Mali
Applicants
Dr. Thomas Hüsken; Professor Dr. Georg Klute
Subject Area
Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
Term
from 2016 to 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 318338792
The current political developments in Libya and northern Mali represent nothing less than the renegotiation of the post-colonial political order. The toppling of authoritarian regimes in Libya and the subsequent disintegration of the country in post-revolutionary camps and regions, the continuing rebellion of the Tuareg in northern Mali, accompanied by the rise of transnational Islamist and Jihadist forces have led to the fragmentation of state structures, to more heterogeneity in politics, and to the emergence of non-state power groups which gain relevance on the complex political stage. While often propagating social and political alternatives to the Western state model, some of these groups seem to be, at least at times, intertwined with respective state structures. We propose to study processes of political orders in the making from local and trans-local perspectives. We assume thereby that the current situation in Northwest Africa offers a unique opportunity for the observation and study of the renegotiation of the post-colonial political order, including strong contestations to the Western state model. We further assume that ongoing processes of remaking political orders, particularly in Libya and Mali, are strongly linked, without suggesting any kind of causality between them. The local continues to constitute the decisive arena for the making of political orders.The project brings together three theoretical concepts and fields of research: heterarchy, (historical and present) connectivities in northwest Africa, and the importance of local actors/locality. The first concept of heterarchy is a recent one, responding to the rapid development of political orders in Africa and elsewhere within the last twenty years. 'Heterarchy' points at central traits of current political (state and non-state) orders, namely the mutable and unstable intertwining of state and non-state orders and the plurality of competing power groups. The concept of connectivity (across states and borders) is a newly re-discovered topic, perceiving state borders (and the Sahara desert) not as barriers, but as transitional spaces. It allows a better understanding of recent political developments and their historical roots. The concept local actors/locality is well rooted in political anthropology and political sociology. It underlines the importance of the local in negotiation processes and struggles over what political order to establish.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
International Connection
France, Italy, Libya, USA
