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ABSTRACT
Political crises, terrorism, porous international boundaries, coups d’état, and socio-political upheavals all underline the need to rethink what security means in the Sahel region. While international and regional approaches to security still take predominantly military and macro-political perspectives, there is a need to ethnographically describe and analyse security from below. To this end, citizens’ own initiatives should be central to contemporary analyses of African peacemaking interventions. This article takes the growing and diverse movements of self-defence groups in Burkina Faso and Mali as a starting point for analysing how security can be ‘seen from below’, often in interaction with and sometimes even in outright contradiction with the rule of law. While local self-defence groups constitute a challenge to the rule of law, ethnographic fieldwork in Mali and Burkina Faso reveals a high degree of adaptability and flexibility of these movements. This article furthermore discusses methodological challenges when doing ethnographic research in dangerous terrains, drawing on fieldwork in the Sahel, and considers implications of the study of ‘security from below’ for the wider study of international affairs.
Notes on contributor
Professor Sten Hagberg is based at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University, Sweden, where he is also Director of the Forum for Africa Studies. He has conducted long-term anthropological field research in Burkina Faso since 1988 and in Mali since 2008. Thematic fields include dispute settlement, environment, development, poverty, political violence, democracy and mass media. He has also done work on anthropological engagements. Current research considers democracy and municipal politics, as well as the anthropological study of opposition and protest, democracy and security. Moreover, Hagberg served as President of the Euro-African Association for the Anthropology of Social Change and Development (APAD) 2007–2013 and President of the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG) 2013–2017, and currently serves as President-Elect of Mande Studies Association, 2017–. Since 2015, Hagberg has been SIPRI Associate Senior Fellow of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Notes
1 Hagberg S, ‘“Thousands of new Sankaras”: Resistance and struggle in Burkina Faso’, Africa Spectrum, 50.3, 2015, pp. 109–21; Hagberg S & G Körling, ‘Socio-political turmoil in Mali: The public debate following the coup d’état on 22 March 2012’, Africa Spectrum 47(2–3), pp. 111–25; Hagberg S, L Kibora, S Barry, S Gnessi & A Konkobo, Transformations sociopolitiques burkinabè de 2014 à 2016: Perspectives anthropologiques des pratiques politiques et de la culture démocratique dans ‘ un Burkina Faso nouveau’. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies 1. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017.
2 Andersson R, ‘Here be dragons: Mapping ethnography of global danger’, Cultural Anthropology, 57.6, 2016, pp. 707–31.
3 See for instance AU (African Union), Report of the Peace and Security Council on its Activities and the State of Peace and Security in Africa. Assembly/AU/2(XXVI). Addis Ababa: AU, 2016, pp. 13–14; AU, Report of the Peace and Security Council on its Activities and the State of Peace and Security in Africa. Assembly/AU/5(XXVII). Addis Ababa: AU, 2016, pp. 8–10.
4 Maguire M, C Frois & N Zurawski (eds), The Anthropology of Security: Perspectives from the Frontline of Policing, Counter-terrorism and Border Control. London: Pluto Press, 2014.
5 Hagberg S, L Kibora, S Barry, S Gnessi & A Konkobo, Transformations sociopolitiques burkinabè de 2014 à 2016: Perspectives anthropologiques des pratiques politiques et de la culture démocratique dans ‘un Burkina Faso nouveau’. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies 1. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017.
6 Lecocq B, G Mann, B Whitehouse, D Badi, L Pelckmans, N Belalimat, B Hall & W Lacher, ‘One hippopotamus and eight blind analysts: A multivocal analysis of the 2012 political crisis in the divided Republic of Mali’, Review of African Political Economy, 40.137, 2013, pp. 343–57; Hagberg S, L Kibora, F Ouattara & A Konkobo, ‘Au cœur de la révolution burkinabè’, Anthropologie & développement, 42, 2015, pp. 199–224; Hagberg S, L Kibora, S Barry, S Gnessi & A Konkobo, Transformations sociopolitiques burkinabè de 2014 à 2016: Perspectives anthropologiques des pratiques politiques et de la culture démocratique dans ‘un Burkina Faso nouveau’. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies 1. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017.
7 Notions such as ‘ordinary citizens’, ‘from below’, and ‘the grassroots’ are here used to signal the use of methodological populism, where representations and practices of ordinary citizens (the poor, dominated, the oppressed) merit ‘la plus grande attention de la part des sciences sociales’ (Olivier de Sardan J-P, La rigueur du qualitatif: Les contraintes empiriques de l’interprétation socio-anthropologique. Louvain-la-Neuve: Academia Bruylant, 2008, p. 246. For a recent discussion of ordinary citizens, see Carrel M & C Neveu (eds), Citoyennetés ordinaires: pour une approche renouvelée des pratiques citoyennes. Paris: Karthala, 2014; and Hagberg S, L Kibora, S Barry, S Gnessi & A Konkobo, Transformations sociopolitiques burkinabè de 2014 à 2016: Perspectives anthropologiques des pratiques politiques et de la culture démocratique dans ‘un Burkina Faso nouveau’. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies 1. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017). Studies ‘from below’ gained a certain favour in political science over the last decades (Bayart J-F, A Mbembe & C Toulabor, Le politique par le bas en Afrique noire. Paris: Karthala, 2008). Yet anthropologists have for long time been focusing on studies from below, including in studies of development or war (Hagberg S & C Widmark (eds), Ethnographic Practice and Public Aid: Methods and Meanings in Development Cooperation. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2009; Olivier de Sardan J-P, La rigueur du qualitatif: Les contraintes empiriques de l’interprétation socio-anthropologique. Louvain-la-Neuve: Academia Bruylant, 2008, p. 246; Richards P (ed.), No Peace, No War: An Anthropology of Contemporary Armed Conflicts. Oxford: James Currey/Athens: Ohio University Press, 2005.
8 cf. Buzan B & L Hansen, The Evolution of international Security Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010; Collins A, Contemporary Security Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
9 Goldstein DM, ‘Toward a critical anthropology of security’, Current Anthropology, 51(4), 2010, pp. 487–517.
10 Maguire M, C Frois & N Zurawski (eds), The Anthropology of Security: Perspectives from the Frontline of Policing, Counter-terrorism and Border Control. London: Pluto Press, 2014, p. 1.
11 Ibid, p. 2.
12 United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 24, http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/255/hdr_1994_en_complete_nostats.pdf (accessed 16 January 2017).
13 Kaldor M (2006) ‘La sécurité humaine : un concept pertinent ?’, Politique étrangère, 4, 2006, p. 904.
14 Eriksen TH, ‘Human security and social anthropology’, in Eriksen TH, E Bal & O Salemink (eds), A World of Insecurity: Anthropological Perspectives on Human Security. London: Pluto Press, 2010.
15 Salman T, ‘Taking risks for security’s sake: Bolivians resisting their State and its economic policies’, in Eriksen TH, E Bal & O Salemink (eds), A World of Insecurity: Anthropological Perspectives on Human Security. London: Pluto Press, 2010.
16 Eriksen TH, ‘Human security and social anthropology’, in Eriksen TH, E Bal & O Salemink (eds), A World of Insecurity: Anthropological Perspectives on Human Security. London: Pluto Press, 2010.
17 Hagberg S & G Körling ‘Urban land contestations and political mobilisation: (Re)sources of authority and protest in West African municipalities’, Social Anthropology, 24.3, 2016, 294–308.
18 Hagberg S, YF Koné & K Elfving in collaboration with B Koné, NTraoré & M Diallo, ‘Analyse sociale au Mali: Inclusion et exclusion à travers les opportunités du travail et de l’emploi’. Uppsala University & Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, 2009.
19 The results of the elections in Kalaban-Coro was contested: first, the CNID-Mayor Ballo seemed to be re-elected, but in March 2017 the court abolished the Gouana voting centre, leading to the victory of RPM’s Diarra (Hagberg S, YF Koné, B Koné, A Diallo & I Kansaye, Vers une sécurité par le bas ?: Etude sur les perceptions et les expériences des défis de sécurité dans deux communes maliennes. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studes 2. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017, pp. 40–41.
20 Hagberg S, YF Koné & K Elfving in collaboration with B Koné, NTraoré & M Diallo, ‘Analyse sociale au Mali: Inclusion et exclusion à travers les opportunités du travail et de l’emploi’. Uppsala University & Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, 2009; Hagberg S & G Körling ‘Urban land contestations and political mobilisation: (Re)sources of authority and protest in West African municipalities’, Social Anthropology, 24.3, 2016, 294–308; Hagberg S, YF Koné, B Koné, A Diallo & I Kansaye, Vers une sécurité par le bas?: Etude sur les perceptions et les expériences des défis de sécurité dans deux communes maliennes. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studes 2. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017.
21 Since 2008, I have carried out anthropological fieldwork in Kalaban-Coro in short, intensive periods in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016, together with Bintou Koné. At some occasions, other colleagues have participated in fieldwork, particularly Gabriella Körling, Félix Koné and N’gna Traoré.
22 Hagberg S, YF Koné & K Elfving in collaboration with B Koné, NTraoré & M Diallo, ‘Analyse sociale au Mali: Inclusion et exclusion à travers les opportunités du travail et de l’emploi’. Uppsala University & Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, 2009, p. 51. All translations from French to English are the author’s.
23 Hagberg S, YF Koné, B Koné, A Diallo & I Kansaye, Vers une sécurité par le bas?: Etude sur les perceptions et les expériences des défis de sécurité dans deux communes maliennes. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studes 2. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017, pp. 61–2.
24 In all cases documented, the thieves who have been burnt are male.
25 The practice called l’Article 320 was named after the fall of the dictatorship of Moussa Traoré in 1991. It was during the political transition and the early democratic regime in 1992 that local people resorted to burning thieves in Bamako. At the time, the price of one litre of fuel was 300 FCFA.
26 Kalabancoro-Koulouba, ‘Un voleur de moto brulé vif par la population’, Leral.net, 29 September 2015, http://www.leral.net/Kalabancoro-Koulouba-Un-voleur-de-moto-brule-vif-par-la-population_a155090.html (accessed 10 January 2017).
27 Hagberg S, YF Koné, B Koné, A Diallo & I Kansaye, Vers une sécurité par le bas?: Etude sur les perceptions et les expériences des défis de sécurité dans deux communes maliennes. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studes 2. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017, p. 52.
28 Dozos are traditional hunters widespread across West Africa, in countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Guinea. Dozo brotherhoods have existed in these polities for more than thousand years (Hellweg J, Hunting the Ethical. State: The Benkadi Movement of Côte d'Ivoire. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2011; Kedzierska-Manzon A, Chasseurs mandingues: Violence, pouvoir et religion en Afrique de l’Ouest. Paris: Karthala, 2014, as well as the Special Issue of Africa Today, 2004).
29 Hagberg S, YF Koné, B Koné, A Diallo & I Kansaye, Vers une sécurité par le bas?: Etude sur les perceptions et les expériences des défis de sécurité dans deux communes maliennes. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studes 2. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017.
30 Dozoya translates as the state of hunting, or the hunting affair.
31 Hagberg S, ‘La chasse aux voleurs: une association de chasseurs et l’administration de l’Etat dans l’ouest du Burkina Faso’, in Latouche S, P-J Laurent, O Servais & M Singleton (eds), Les raisons de la ruse: une perspective anthropologique et psychanalytique. La Revue du MAUSS. Paris: La Découverte, 2004, pp. 199–219; Hagberg S, ‘Political decentralization and traditional leadership in the Benkadi Hunters’ Association of Western Burkina Faso’, Africa Today, 50.4, 2004, pp. 51–70.
32 Hagberg S, L Kibora, S Barry, S Gnessi & A Konkobo, Transformations sociopolitiques burkinabè de 2014 à 2016: Perspectives anthropologiques des pratiques politiques et de la culture démocratique dans ‘un Burkina Faso nouveau’. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies 1. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017, p. 59.
33 Kouraogo P & A Kaboré under the supervision of L Kibora, ‘Les groupes d’autodéfense “Kogl-Weogo” au Burkina Faso’. African Security Sector Netork, December 2016, http://africansecuritynetwork.org/assn/les-groupes-dautodefence-kogl-weogo-au-burkina-faso/?ct=t%28Cartographie_n_11_La_communaut_musulmane1_19_2017%29&mc_cid=0a1200860d&mc_eid=f7c9dab453 (accessed 7 February 2017).
34 Ibid.
35 Razac Napon A, ‘Kolgwéogo, l’expression de la faillite des institutions’, Mutations, 16, 1 March/April 2016, http://mutationsbf.net/index.php/societe/335-kolgweogo-l-expression-de-la-faillite-des-institutions (accessed 18 November 2016).
36 Hagberg S, L Kibora, S Barry, S Gnessi & A Konkobo, Transformations sociopolitiques burkinabè de 2014 à 2016: Perspectives anthropologiques des pratiques politiques et de la culture démocratique dans ‘un Burkina Faso nouveau’. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies 1. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017. The film Koglweogo Land, produced by Ciné droit libre and SemFilms, had its premiere in Ouagadougou on 6 October 2017. Filmmakers are Ismaël Compaoré and Luc Damiba.
37 Bol, ‘Boukary Kaboré dit le Lion intronisé chef de guerre des Koglweogo’, Burkinaonline, 23 June 2016, http://www.burkinaonline.com/wp/boukary-kabore-dit-le-lion-intronise-chef-de-guerre-des-koglweogo/ (accessed 22 January 2017).
38 Dabiré A, ‘J’insiste, je persiste et je signe, la bastonnade est la méthode des Koglwéogo pour éradiquer les vols, Boukary Kaboré dit le Lion’, Lefaso.net, 25 June 2016, http://lefaso.net/spip.php?article71962 (accessed 17/1/2017).
39 ‘Intégration des Koglweogo dans la police de proximité: Le décret adopté’, Burkina24, 5 October 2016, https://burkina24.com/2016/10/05/integration-des-koglweogo-dans-la-police-de-proximite-le-decret-adopte/ (accessed 21 January 2017).
40 ‘Le Koglweogo peut être rattaché directement à la présidence et nous allons taire tout le problème’ (Boukary Kaboré dit le Lion), Omegabf.net, 13 November 2016, http://www.omegabf.net/societe/le-koglweogo-peut-etre-rattache-directement-a-la-presidence-et-la-nous-allons-taire-tout-le-probleme-boukary-kabore-dit-le-lion/ (accessed 21 January 2017).
41 Cissé Y, ‘Notes sur les sociétés de chasseurs malinké’, Journal de la Société des Africanistes, 19, 1964, pp. 175–226; Cissé Y, La confrérie des chasseurs malinké et bambara: Mythes, rites et récits initiatiques. Ivry-Paris : Éditions nouvelles du Sud-Association ARSAN, 1994; Hagberg S, ‘La chasse aux voleurs: une association de chasseurs et l’administration de l’Etat dans l’ouest du Burkina Faso’, in Latouche S, P-J Laurent, O Servais & M Singleton (eds), Les raisons de la ruse: une perspective anthropologique et psychanalytique. La Revue du MAUSS. Paris: La Découverte, 2004, pp. 199–219; Hellweg J, Hunting the Ethical. State: The Benkadi Movement of Côte d'Ivoire. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2011; Kedzierska-Manzon A, Chasseurs mandingues: Violence, pouvoir et religion en Afrique de l’Ouest. Paris: Karthala, 2014.
42 Hagberg S, ‘La chasse aux voleurs: une association de chasseurs et l’administration de l’Etat dans l’ouest du Burkina Faso’, in Latouche S, P-J Laurent, O Servais & M Singleton (eds), Les raisons de la ruse: une perspective anthropologique et psychanalytique. La Revue du MAUSS. Paris: La Découverte, 2004, pp. 199–219; Hagberg S, ‘Political decentralization and traditional leadership in the Benkadi Hunters’ Association of Western Burkina Faso’, Africa Today, 50.4, 2004, pp. 51–70; Ferrarini L, ‘The dankun network: The donso hunters of Burkina Faso between ecological change and new associations’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 34.1, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2016.1190529; Hellweg J, Hunting the Ethical. State: The Benkadi Movement of Côte d'Ivoire. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2011; Kedzierska-Manzon A, Chasseurs mandingues: Violence, pouvoir et religion en Afrique de l’Ouest. Paris: Karthala, 2014; Cissé Y, ‘Notes sur les sociétés de chasseurs malinké’, Journal de la Société des Africanistes, 19, 1964, pp. 175–226; Cissé Y, La confrérie des chasseurs malinké et bambara: Mythes, rites et récits initiatiques. Ivry-Paris: Éditions nouvelles du Sud-Association ARSAN, 1994.
43 ‘Blaise Sanon, (Chef des Dozos de l’Ouest), à propos des Koglweogo: “Nous ne sommes pas contre les Koglwéogo, (…). S’ils changent de comportement, nous pourrons collaborer”’, Le Pays, 6 December 2016, http://lepays.bf/blaise-sanon-chef-dozos-de-louest-a-propos-koglweogo-ne-sommes-contre-koglweogo-sils-changent-de-comportement-pourrons-collaborer/ (accessed 17 January 2017).
44 ‘Siaka Karambiri, chef des Dozos de la Kossi : “Nous sommes prêts à épauler les forces régulières dans la lutte contre le terrorisme”’, Le Pays, 6 December 2016, http://netafrique.net/siaka-karambiri-chef-des-dozos-de-la-kossi-nous-sommes-prets-a-epauler-les-forces-regulieres-dans-la-lutte-contre-le-terrorisme/ (accessed 17 January 2017).
45 Dao S, ‘Burkina Faso: Interdiction formelle fait à Boukary Kaboré dit le Lion d’implanter les Koglwéogo dans l’Ouest du pays’, L’Express du Faso, 24 November 2016, http://www.burkinaonline.com/wp/burkina-faso-interdiction-formelle-fait-a-boukary-kabore-dit-le-lion-dimplanter-les-koglweogo-dans-louest-du-pays/ (accessed 17 January 2017).
46 ‘Maître Yacouba Drabo de l’union panafricaine des Dozos : Les Koglweogo doivent agir dans la légalité’, Notre Temps, 21 March 2016, http://www.notretempsbf.com/m-2161-maitre-yacouba-drabo-de-l-union-panafricaine-des-dozo-les-koglweogo-doivent-agir-dans-la-legalite-.html (accessed 17 January 2017).
47 The Koglweogos do practice a kind of initiation, but not with the kind of historical depth that the Dozos do.
48 ‘Bobo: Simon Compaoré face aux dozos, by Martial Sanou’, Burkina24, 29 November 2016, http://burkina24.com/2016/11/29/bobo-simon-compaore-face-aux-dozos/ (accessed 17 January 2017).
49 Sanou M, ‘Relation dozo-koglweogo: La tension monte dans l’Ouest’, Burkina24, 4 January 2017, https://burkina24.com/2017/01/04/relation-dozo-koglweogo-la-tension-monte-dans-louest/ (accessed 17 January 2017).
50 The Dozos’ position defending the rule of law is somewhat ironic, because some 10–15 years ago when I did research on the hunters’ movement they clearly took the law into their own hands, particularly in farmer–herder conflicts.
51 Hagberg S, YF Koné, B Koné, A Diallo & I Kansaye, Vers une sécurité par le bas?: Etude sur les perceptions et les expériences des défis de sécurité dans deux communes maliennes. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studes 2. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017, p. 61.
52 Lind J & R Luckham, ‘Introduction: Security in the vernacular and peacebuilding at the margins; rethinking violence reduction’, Peacebuilding, 5.2, 2017, pp. 89–98, p. 92. doi/full/10.1080/21647259.2016.1277008
53 Salman T, ‘Taking risks for security’s sake: Bolivians resisting their State and its economic policies’, in Eriksen TH, E Bal & O Salemink (eds), A World of Insecurity: Anthropological Perspectives on Human Security. London: Pluto Press, 2010.
54 Hagberg S, YF Koné, B Koné, A Diallo & I Kansaye, Vers une sécurité par le bas?: Etude sur les perceptions et les expériences des défis de sécurité dans deux communes maliennes. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studes 2. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017.
55 Lind J & R Luckham, ‘Introduction: Security in the vernacular and peacebuilding at the margins; rethinking violence reduction’, Peacebuilding, 5.2, 2017, pp. 89–98, p. 92. doi/full/10.1080/21647259.2016.1277008
56 Ayimpam S & J Bouju (eds), ‘Enquêter en terrains difficiles: Objets tabous, lieux dangereux, sujets sensibles’, in Civilisations: Revue internationale d’anthropologie et de sciences humaines, 64.1–2, 2015, pp. 141–512; Andersson R, ‘Here be dragons: Mapping ethnography of global danger’, Cultural Anthropology, 57.6, 2016, pp. 707–31; Hagberg S, L Kibora, F Ouattara & A Konkobo, ‘Au cœur de la révolution burkinabè’, Anthropologie & développement, 42, 2015, pp. 199–224.
57 Ibid.
58 Hagberg S, L Kibora, F Ouattara & A Konkobo, ‘Au cœur de la révolution burkinabè’, Anthropologie & développement, 42, 2015, pp. 199–224.
59 Ibid.
60 Ibid.
61 Hagberg S, ‘“Thousands of new Sankaras”: Resistance and struggle in Burkina Faso’, Africa Spectrum, 50.3, 2015, pp. 109–21.
62 Hagberg S, YF Koné & K Elfving in collaboration with B Koné, NTraoré & M Diallo, ‘Analyse sociale au Mali: Inclusion et exclusion à travers les opportunités du travail et de l’emploi’. Uppsala University & Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, 2009.
63 Hagberg S, YF Koné, B Koné, A Diallo & I Kansaye, Vers une sécurité par le bas?: Etude sur les perceptions et les expériences des défis de sécurité dans deux communes maliennes. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studes 2. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017. In this instance, we did research in the municipalities of Niono and Kalaban-Coro.
64 Hagberg S, YF Koné, B Koné, A Diallo & I Kansaye, Vers une sécurité par le bas?: Etude sur les perceptions et les expériences des défis de sécurité dans deux communes maliennes. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studes 2. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017.
65 Hagberg S & G Körling, ‘Inaccessible fields: Doing anthropology in the Malian political turmoil’, Anthropologie & développement, 40–41, 2014, pp. 143–59.
66 Hagberg S, L Kibora, S Barry, S Gnessi & A Konkobo, Transformations sociopolitiques burkinabè de 2014 à 2016: Perspectives anthropologiques des pratiques politiques et de la culture démocratique dans ‘un Burkina Faso nouveau’. Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies 1. Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2017.
67 Maguire M, C Frois & N Zurawski (eds), The Anthropology of Security: Perspectives from the Frontline of Policing, Counter-terrorism and Border Control. London, Pluto Press, 2014, p. 2.