This edited volume focuses on mobile phone use in specific African communities, namely those that have a long history of mobility and are regarded as marginal in the national economic, social and... Show moreThis edited volume focuses on mobile phone use in specific African communities, namely those that have a long history of mobility and are regarded as marginal in the national economic, social and/or political context. It was in such regions that the most intensive dynamics were expected to be seen following the introduction of the mobile phone. Contributions: Introduction: mobile margins and the dynamics of communication (Mirjam de Bruijn, Inge Brinkman and Francis Nyamnjoh); Mobilit‚ et moyens de communication au Gu‚ra (Chad) (Djimet Seli); La connexion des marges: marginalit‚ politique et technologie de d‚senclavement en Basse Casamance (Sud du S‚n‚gal) (Fatima Diallo); 'Angola my country, Cape Town my home': a young migrant's journey of social becoming and belonging (Imke Gooskens); Transnational migration and marginality: Nigerian migrants in anglophone Cameroon (Tangie Nsoh Fonchingong); Les femmes hadjaraye du Gu‚ra … l'‚cole de l'alphab‚tisation (Khalil Alio); From foot messengers to cell phones: communication in Kom, Cameroon, c. 1916-1998 (Walter Gam Nkwi); Grandeur ou misŠres des cabines t‚l‚phoniques priv‚es et publiques au Mali (Naffet Ke‹ta); Informationandcommunication technology and its impact on transnational migration: the case of Senegalese boat migrants (Henrietta Nyamnjoh); Identities of place: mobile naming practices and social landscapes in Sudan (Siri Lamoureux). [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
In this paper, the author considers the interpretation of and the ethnographic production about Islam and Muslim societies, particularly in Africa. The Orientalist 'doctrine' of an unchanging and... Show moreIn this paper, the author considers the interpretation of and the ethnographic production about Islam and Muslim societies, particularly in Africa. The Orientalist 'doctrine' of an unchanging and timeless Islam has long been shown to be inadequate for understanding the obvious diversity and complexity within and between Muslim societies. However, the limitations of certain anthropolocial studies - notably, their almost exclusive focus on local context and cultures to which they sometimes attribute different 'Islams' (e.g. African Islam) - have not been critically examined to the same degree. The author argues that one must study Islam as a discursive tradition at the intersection of the local and the supralocal, including broader scriptural traditions of Islam. Drawing on ethnographic and historical research on Islamic law in West Africa, the author shows how Muslims in Mali participate in the supralocal discourses of Islam and some of the ways in which local and regional history and culture shape their participation in these discourses. [Journal abstract] Show less
During his fieldwork in Mali in the 1990s, the author found that many discussions among Malian Muslims about Islam centred on general questions of piety and the "correct" ways of being a pious... Show moreDuring his fieldwork in Mali in the 1990s, the author found that many discussions among Malian Muslims about Islam centred on general questions of piety and the "correct" ways of being a pious Muslim. There seemed to be considerable concern with - and often debate about - the public signs of piety. One such sign was the 'seere', a dark, sometimes circular spot or mark on some Muslims' foreheads. Many Malians noted that such a mark indicates regular prayer and presumably appears from touching the forehead to the ground. The author focuses on these publicly visible signs of piety not only because they were the subject of considerable discussion in Mali but also because they are not limited to any one group of Muslims. Before doing so, he gives an outline of Islam in Malian history, Muslim preachers and the spread of public sermons during the colonial period, Muslim associations and Muslim intellectuals who began to enter the public arena in new ways in the 1950s, and the public sphere and standardization of Islamic practices in the postcolonial period. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This article explores political tensions between successive 19th-century rulers of the inland delta of the Niger in central Mali - the Fulbe Diina (1818-1864) and the Futanke (1864-1893) - and the... Show moreThis article explores political tensions between successive 19th-century rulers of the inland delta of the Niger in central Mali - the Fulbe Diina (1818-1864) and the Futanke (1864-1893) - and the pastoral interests of the Fulbe chiefdoms on the eastern periphery of the area, a region known as the Hayre. Dalla was the main authority of the Fulbe in the Hayre, which in the second half of the century was divided into two Fulbe chiefdoms: Booni and Dalla. The Diina, or Maasina State developed a strict political and economic organization, including a set of rules regarding natural resource management. By contrast, the Futanke introduced chaos into the area as it lacked a strict organization, a legitimate power base and a network of power relations. Analysis of the changing forms of local governance and natural resource management in the Hayre demonstrates that although different strategies were employed by the Fulbe and Futanke States to control the area, the internal dynamics of the Hayre can only partly be explained by the influence of these central powers. In each period, the pendulum swung between external control and the internal dynamics of the Hayre, and the area was never an integral part of an undivided empire. Notes, ref., sum Show less
