Productions of Space In Tuareg History: Power, Marginalization, And Resistance

Abstract

Tuareg pastoralists commanded a system of trade and production in the western Sahel prior to French colonization, but events in the 20th Century rendered them marginalized and vulnerable to climatic shocks, as evidenced by the Sahelian drought of the 1970s. This paper begins with a discussion of how the Tuareg exploited the landscape and social relations of production prior to colonization. It then describes colonial re-ordering of space in what is now Niger through the displacement of the Tuareg nobility. The first disastrous drought of the postcolonial era triggered another transformation of space as respondents to the crisis challenged the logic of pastoralists’ land use and implemented alternative models of production. Finally, the paper considers how some Tuareg are both re-establishing broad territories through new forms of mobility and attempting to seize greater control over resources and development processes in their homeland.