'Qui C'est Ce Monsieur Mali Qui Remplace Les Francais?' Analyzing the Kel Tamasheq Conflict of Mali from the Perspective
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Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University Nijmegen MSc Human Geography, specialisation: Conflicts, Territories and Identities Supervised by Dr. Henk van Houtum ‘Qui c’est ce monsieur Mali qui remplace les Francais?’ Analyzing the Kel Tamasheq conflict of Mali from the perspective of identity Ieteke Elze Schouten [email protected] Amsterdam, August 2010 OI VA VOI1,2 Hora It's all about identity Construction of a family Of difference and simile What I give you and you give me It's all about identity This tribal sense of dignity Of tolerance and unity Of prejudice and bigotry It's all about identity A web of who we'd like to be Let's cut and paste our memory A dark and timeless industry It's all about identity A strength and solidarity A dazed, confused desire to find A place and time in history It's all about identity Or how the sheer majority Impose a predetermined badge And wait to judge you silently It's all about identity A retrospective odyssey But where I live and who I meet Are stronger in defining me From the album: Laughter Through Tears (2003) 1 Saint Girons, 2008:27 2 Oi Va Voi is a Klezmer/dance band influenced by folk music from eastern Europe. The band originates from London and most of the members have a Jewish background. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When writing the acknowledgements, I cannot help to ponder over the fact that I am so grateful that this work is now completed. The patience the people close to me have showed was unending. And so, the list of people I want to thank is quite extensive. Yet, I especially want to thank Peter Oosterveer, with whom I regularly discussed the content as well as the process I went through working on this thesis. I also want to thank my aunt Elizabeth Saltet. Though, or perhaps because? she must have travelled half Europe these last few months, she somehow had time to have a look at my English to point out the worst mistakes. She told me that my English writing is more Franglais than Dunglish… interesting! The third person I want to sincerely thank, for the inspiring conversations we had and his infinite patience, is my supervisor Henk van Houtum. Obviously, there are many other people who kindly contributed to the, sometimes tough, writing process I have been through. I will thank them personally. I sincerely that everyone who lent a hand will stay around as long as possible; life is a lot more fun with them! Many students see the thesis as something bigger than the final assignment of their scientific education. I am no exception. Like these students I wish that my report will be of use to the world. Generally speaking, world peace is the responsibility of Miss World, and though my goal was a little less high- minded, I still wanted this analysis to contribute to sustainable conflict resolution by the creation of awareness and understanding of the situation for the few people interested in the field of democratisation, identity based conflict and state-minority dynamics in Western Africa. Well… we shall see how useful this paper will turn out to be now it is finished and ready to be published. Fortunately, this thesis has already gloriously succeeded in one thing. I, myself, have learnt a lot from it. Every drop of sweat, every sleepless night, every date with the people I love that I had to cancel, every time that the sun smiled at me through the window, every tear that I dropped on my desktop, and every time I was suddenly happy being alone, analysing something my heart was in... it was so worth it. Yes, the blood, sweat and tears, the energy I put into this report, not always useful to the actual final result, but certainly essential in the ongoing learning process with regard to my way of working... it was worth it. Initially, this thesis was a scientific analysis of the stereotypes that I was left from an early childhood in West Africa. During the process of writing it became more and more a search for a way to combine my intrinsic beliefs with the field of work I am interested in. The bigger lesson I have learnt is both simple and obvious: to find the pearls in your live you just have to work on steadily and stay alert to the possibilities around you. 3 And suddenly, this thesis is finished and therefore my study is completed. And so it is time for something different. With a bit more knowledge of the problem of northern Mali and my way of working, I am looking forward to closing the chapter of my study of Conflicts, Territories and Identities and I am longing for a working live. So, enough theory for now and off we go, time to discover the world of working practice. 4 Map of Mali3 3 Wiki of Mali. Retrieved from http://lcfuncw.pbworks.com/Mali Visited in January 2010 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................. 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM OF THE NORTH .......................................................................... 9 1.1 The actors on stage ...................................................................................................................... 11 1.2 The problem of the north ............................................................................................................. 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY AND STRUCTURE ................................................................. 16 2.1 A qualitative comparative study .................................................................................................. 16 2.2 Content of the chapters ................................................................................................................ 17 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK - Identity in Conflict According to Samuel Huntington and Amartya Sen .............................................................................................. 22 3.1 The End of History and the Beginning of Modern Warfare........................................................ 23 3.2 Huntington’s Theory of Identity ................................................................................................. 26 3.3 Sen’s Theory of Identity .............................................................................................................. 31 3.4 Criticisms Against and Differences Between the Two Theories ................................................ 36 3.5 The Two Hypothese .................................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER 4: IDENTITY AND CONFLICT .................................................................................. 40 4.1 The Kel Tamasheq ...................................................................................................................... 40 4.2 The Independent State of Mali .................................................................................................... 49 4.3 The Problem of the North – Grievances of the Past .................................................................... 55 4.4 Summary of Chapter 4 ................................................................................................................ 66 CHAPTER 5: MINORITY VERSUS NATIONAL IDENTITY - Application of the theories .... 71 5.1 The Four Different Power Dimensions ....................................................................................... 72 5.2 The Four Identity Features and Huntington’s View and Sen’s View on the Situation ............... 74 5.3 Identity feature I - Collective history and the theories ................................................................ 73 5.4 Identity feature II - Language ...................................................................................................... 77 5.5 Identity feature III - Lifestyle ...................................................................................................... 79 5.6 Identity feature IV - Religion ...................................................................................................... 84 5.7 The Role of the Terrain ............................................................................................................... 85 5.7 Summary of Chapter 5 ................................................................................................................ 88 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIIONS ....................................................................................................... 90 6.1 Sustainability of the Theories ...................................................................................................... 90 6 6.2 What is the Role of Identity in the Conflict? .............................................................................. 92 6.3 What is the Influence of the Government on the Identity of the Kel Tamasheq? ....................... 94 6.4 The Future of the Minority, the State and their Conflict ............................................................. 96 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 97 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................... 102 Interviewees ............................................................................................................................... 102 Item list of the semi structured interviews ................................................................................