Tuaregs and Citizenship: ‘The Last Camp of Nomadism’
Abstract
The paper questions the widespread perception according to which Tuaregs’ relationship to
citizenship would be characterized by hostility, skepticism or indifference, a perception which
is often applied to transnational minorities, in particular when they are associated to a
mobility culture and/or a remote territory. It focuses on both mobile and sedentary Tuaregs
from Niger and Mali in their various and complex relationship to state membership, which
spans legally from statelessness to multiple citizenship, and practically from semi-passive
attitudes toward the state to active assimilation. The paper shows how new forms of
belonging, including belonging to the state(s), have emerged among Tuaregs together with the
reconfiguration of territorial and community bonds, and seeks to assess the impact of some
variables, such as mobility and territorial localization, on individual and collective attitudes
towards citizenship.
Origin : Files produced by the author(s)