Title:
Charm Battles:
Vigilantes, Magic, and the State in Middle-Western Madagascar
Journal: Small Wars & Insurgencies (Print ISSN: 0959-2318 Online ISSN: 1743-9558)
[peer reviewed version 08.04.2019, in press 2019]
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Abstract:
Growing insecurity in rural areas of Madagascar is linked to what has been understood as a disintegration of the legal and the real state, both in Africa and beyond. Nevertheless, violence and insecurity is nothing new on Madagascar, and village communities have a long history of coping with disorder, and of self-defense. New vigilante movements, which are founded by charismatic leaders, are based on a long-established and well- known socio-cultural code, it is proposed. This includes belief of magic forces, which again results in an interpretation of confrontations by local actors as charm battles. The two vigilante groups described, called Zazamainty and Lambamena, should be seen, in spite of major ideological differences, as variants of the same basic code, providing them with a similar interpretation of the ongoing clashes. This first Malagasy case study of vigilantism adds to the ongoing theorization of the vigilante phenomenon as well as efforts to understand the proliferation of non-state armed organizations or ‘twilight institutions’ beyond the state.
Keywords:
Vigilantism, Madagascar, Zazamainty, Lambamena, Non-state armed actors, community-based armed groups, village conventions, magic, dina, dahalo
Word count: 9.499
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Introduction
Vigilantism is increasingly attracting scholarly attention. Such interest today goes far beyond specific case studies and includes investigations that aim to understand vigilante movements in a more systematic way, on a global level, with respect to specific cultural or territorial spaces, and through time.1 A central observation pervading the literature is the ambiguous link between vigilantism and the state in which they are inevitably embedded. Vigilantes such as the Malagasy groups presented here usually accept globally the state. As they feel compelled to assume elements of the (in their view) failed capacity of the state to provide security authority they turn towards local, usually conservative resources of wisdom and power, including magic, and a considerable degree of violence.
This article contributes to the growing field of study by presenting two newly developing vigilante groups in Madagascar, and by investigating for the first time the phenomenon of vigilantism on this island more systematically. The groups studied are commonly known as Zazamainty (meaning ‘Children of the Black’) or Lambamena (‘Red Clothes’), names that seize upon one of the most recognizable features of their adherents when in action: a black or red scarf respectively, slung around the head, a well-known example of iconography that descends from warriors in pre-colonial times. Both movements were founded in approximately the same geographical area (the Vakinankaratra region, south and southwest of the capital, Antananarivo), and gaining greater recognition in about
2016 as they were increasingly able to attract adherents. Following this development, these organizations as well as their field of action quickly spread to a vast area that can roughly be described as the intermediary between central Madagascar and the west coast.
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It is estimated that their number increased to several thousand or even tens of thousands
(although most probably a figure below 10,000 individuals) by mid-2018.i
The Zazamainty and Lambamena are essentially community-based armed groups, organized by villagers to ensure local security in the context of significant issues of banditry, mostly related to cattle rustling. Nonetheless, they are not formally or independently organized by individual or collaborative village communities. In fact, the
‘Children of the Black’ and the ‘Red Clothes’ were established as private associations acting on an inter-regional level. As will be seen, their origin is connected to charismatic leaders who propose new, creative ways of ensuring security, while at the same time referring to a very well-known socio-cultural code. They establish bonds and trust between otherwise unconnected adherents of very different villages in a ‘traditional’ way
(i.e., linked to magical beliefs and practices including charms) in largely the same way as the cattle rustlers (dahalo in official Malagasy), with whom they usually fight and which are, basically, embedded in the same rural background.
Part one of the paper provides a short overview of the linked topics of vigilantism, magic, and violence, specifically with respect to the African continent. Part two develops the key aspects of the historical pathway of Malagasy ideas and practices related to local self- defense and vigilantism. Part three presents ethnographic data on ongoing violence in middle-western Madagascar and its perception as a kind of magic battle. The case study is continued in the final part, where the main aspects of the Zazamainty and Lambamena movements are presented.
i By Nartin Ramboanarivo, the president of Lambamena, and the informant Philemon
Andriamampandry.
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The original information presented here on the two vigilante groups was gathered between November 2016 and December 2018, mainly in the Bongolava region (the town of Tsiroanomandidy and its surroundings) and the Vakinankratra region (the towns of
Mandoto and Betafo and adjacent areas). Interviews were held with the main actors and members of the vigilantes, as well as with villagers, politicians and state functionaries in
French and Malagasy (the latter supported by an assistant).
1. Linking Vigilantism, Magic and Violence in Africa
Vigilantism can be broadly understood, according to Les Johnston’s valuable definition, as a ‘social movement constituted by “private volunteer agents” who [aim] to control crime and to provide security for the movement’s members and for significant others by using or threatening of using violence.’ 2 However, a more precise analysis reveals that a clear-cut definition of such groups is scarcely possible, because (among other issues) links to the state might be fluid, ambivalent and dynamic, and vigilante groups in a more proper sense might transform into other non-state armed groups like militias or warlords.3
Consequently, instead of regarding vigilantes as a distinct category, it seems more useful to see them as part of a broad range of phenomena of groups – including rebels, warlords, marauders, militias and para-militias – claiming parts of the legal and executive power of the state, with vigilantes on the more consensual, state-related side of such groups.
A central aspect of vigilantism is its necessary embeddedness within a state. In this sense,
Abrahams has described vigilantism as a ‘fundamentally relational phenomenon.’4
Another common point for vigilantes is the need to distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ practices, a norm-based dichotomy that ‘is translated into the distinction between
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“malefactor” and “non-malefactor,”’5 i.e., between somebody who does wrong versus somebody who does the right thing.
Based on such an understanding, it is only consequential that the recent global proliferation of independently operating armed groups ‘with more parochial objectives, such as militias, gangs and vigilantes’6 in a number of countries has been said to have resulted from the worldwide erosion of state structures, and the underlying moral values and norms in the post-Cold War period.7 The African continent, though, provides a particularly strong example for such an observed relationship. The dynamic towards a separation of the real and the legal state in Africa 8 has been powerfully described in terms of images such as the ‘rhizome,’9 the ‘politics of the belly’10 or more simply the ‘shadow state’11. The strategy pushing towards such a shadow state consists usually in establishing
‘alliances between elite cliques and global economic interests, including private businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), donors and illicit trading networks,’12 as one scholar has claimed based on an investigation of Madagascar. Not surprisingly, the spread of vigilantism on the African continent kept pace with the falling apart of the post-colonial state, producing ‘a picture of bewildering volatility and complexity’13, in particular since the 1990’s. Pertinent case studies include Nigeria, South
Africa or Benin, among others, but not the island of Madagascar.14
The mentioned fight of the ‘good’ against ‘bad’ forces leads vigilantes regularly to have recourse on two elements that are central for this article: the use of violence, as a means of establishing authority and order, and of magic, as a locally accepted interpretative framework of the overall situation and as a transcendental element of protection and success. The recourse on violence, and more precisely physical violence (including open or clandestine killings of suspected persons, sometimes sheer atrocities, the abuse of self- proclaimed authority or simply lynching), has been described frequently as part of the
6 work of vigilantes, nevertheless not as a necessary and inevitable element.15 Thereby, an important paradox or contradiction inherent to many vigilante groups appears: While vigilantes attempt to realize an effective pacification of their local arena, they feel often pushed to confront the local population with an impressive ‘breathtakingly blunt, brutal message’16, contradicting ‘without doubt […] standards of human rights and democracy.’17
Furthermore, the recourse on magic in the context of the actions of vigilantes, in particular relation to fighting and physical violence, can be read as a logical aspect of the overall context. The population, feeling left to oneself by the state, turns to familiar social and cultural resources, such as traditions, aspects of identity and magical practices. It has been elaborated that magic is not just only a transcendental belief but also at the same time a social practice, structuring and guiding the interactions of people.18 Therefore, it is no wonder that magic ideas, as they are central for the social fabric, are integrated into many vigilante movements in Africa and beyond, more specifically within the context of violence, fighting and warfare as well as of peacebuilding.19 However, the use of magic
(and of traditional looking ideas of law and justice) should not be understood as ‘a desperate falling back’20 on of old ideas, but rather as a complex process intertwined, directly and indirectly, with contemporary ideas of citizenship, the state, and power or democracy, among others.21 It will be shown that Madagascar does follow this general tendency.
2. A Short Story of Banditry, Self-defense and Vigilantism in Madagascar
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At first glance, the island of Madagascar might seem totally devoid of the phenomenon of vigilantism until very recently. In fact, there is to my knowledge no academic publication available that explicitly investigates any kind of organized self-defense by villagers or local people under the label of vigilantes, militia or neighborhood watches, either historically or at present. Biographical (while not exhaustive) research revealed only a very small sample of scattered and mostly recent notes and remarks on vigilantes in Madagascar,22 as well as on the former militia of President Ratsiraka’s regime between
1997-2002.23 The latter, however, was a government-directed militia very different from the vigilante groups observed in my research or mentioned by the scholars cited above.
All of this seems to suggest that the observation and forthcoming analysis of vigilant groups touches a newly developing socio-cultural phenomenon in Madagascar.
However, community-based vigilantism has long-established roots in local practices of self-defense on the island, and has been developing in a more proper sense since the establishment of modern state authority, starting with the ‘Kingdom of Madagascar’ in the nineteenth century. The forthcoming discussion will evolve around two elements: the long history of cattle raiding, feuding and banditry on the one hand, and the accompanying practice of local justice and self-defense on the other.
It is generally agreed that cattle raiding constitutes a centuries-old practice in
Madagascar.24 The Malagasy zebu (omby), a variant of cattle with a hump, was probably introduced from Africa to northwestern Madagascar already in the ninth century.25 The first reports of cattle raiding come from important historical sources by Europeans between the middle of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century,26but of course such conflicts were part of an already long-established (yet difficult-to-determine) history of general feuding. The often-repeated claim that pre- colonial cattle raiding had ‘mainly cultural motives,’27 such as an initiation process for
8 young men, seems biased as it takes little account of wide regional differences, or the impact of economic and political reasons, and should therefore be approached with caution. For example. the trade of cattle to European explorers and Islamic merchants was important for a long time previously28 and should have encouraged raiding.
Inter-ethnic, but as well inner-clan raids throughout the centuries, including regular cattle rustling, should have instigated the preparedness of Malagasy local communities (called fokon’olona), i.e., units organized upon principles of kinship and geographic proximity, to defend themselves. The socio-cultural practices established in these times should be seen as a key reference for later vigilantes in the more proper sense and important until the present day. This long-term confrontation with insecurity led, for example, to the establishment of internal regulations or village conventions or social contracts,29 called dina or dinam-pokonolona, whose past in central Madagascar is probably linked to the long period of fortified villages30, starting perhaps in the twelfth century.31 King
Andrianampoinimerina (ca. 1745-1810), who founded the unified kingdom of Merina, was the first known person to have recognized such conventions (dina) as a founding principle of his newly formed state.32 It can be concluded at this point that through the establishment of the Merina state, previously independent village communities became bound to overall state regulations, transforming supposedly ‘free’ or autonomous self- defense into an early form of vigilantism in a more proper sense.
Throughout the nineteenth century, cattle raiding continued to represent an important practice and a key subject of feuding and warfare between Malagasy kingdoms. Local communities had to defend themselves against ‘large-scale cattle raids by Bara and
Sakalava [people of Western Madagascar] even in the heartland of the Merina
Monarchy,’33 and banditry patronized by high-ranking functionaries and a corrupt justice system,34 a situation probably closely comparable to the present. Cattle raiding continued
9 again during French colonial rule (1896-1960) as well as after independence had been gained, even while available sources preclude assessment of the development and extent of the phenomenon.35
However, apparently since the beginning of the 1970s the phenomenon of widespread cattle rustling recommenced,36 including growing commercialization and a revival of the
‘cooperation between cattle thieves and governmental officials.’37 The major political and economic changes after 1990, i.e., the general dynamic towards liberalization and commercialization, seemingly stimulated a further increase in zebu banditry. The proposal for a national dinan’mpihary (convention of cattle raisers) by the politician
Monja Jaona on October 17, 1991 should be deemed emblematic of the deteriorating situation and may have constituted a model for the development of local conventions aimed at reducing insecurity.38
The spread of village conventions (dina) at a regional level (or even beyond) with the primary aim of fighting against zebu rustlers (dahalo)ii became more recurrent after 2000 with the creation of numerous new dina.39 The establishment of dina committees in villages often implied the recruitment of special dina forces, usually composed of local men and called Vorom-ahery (literally ‘eagle’), at least in the Bongolava region. These forces therefore constitute a more formally organized level of self-defense or vigilantism.
The Malagasy government attempted to regulate the dina movement by adopting (among others) a law in 200140 that stipulated a homologation between the dina rules and state law by the courts. However, these efforts proved to be counter-productive. In fact,
ii It should be reminded that a dina might be elaborated on any topic deemed of importance for
and by the village community, including for instance the exploitation of natural resources.
10 villagers as well as state officials or politicians usually insist that effective appeasement, including the prevention of cattle raiding, would result in counter-actions from those profiting from disorder. The recent creation of private armed groups that provide security services, including the two vigilante movements presented in this article, should be interpreted as a reaction to the failure of the dina, and the imminent threat to village communities thereby created.
The potential for the new Malagasy vigilantes to attempt to detach themselves from state authority and to instigate uncontrollable forces like warlords has been already evoked by scholars, alongside the possible use of dahalo groups for political reasons.41 This problem remains pertinent for the future, even if the very high normative pressure on the consensual conflict solution, social conformity and the acceptance of formal state authority within the Malagasy population should be deemed an important barrier against such deviations.42
3. Charm Battles: Vigilantes and Cattle Rustlers in Action
The stories of attacks and self-defense on the island continues. In the majority of present western and southern Madagascar, cattle rustlers and bandits regularly attack villages, raid cattle, and pillage property, including burning down houses, killing or injuring people, or occasionally taking hostages. At times, confrontations become types of battle, involving hundreds of cattle thieves, villagers and gendarmes, who use helicopters and heavy armaments (see for example a recent article in L’Express, November 15, 2018).
Following a rare official statement, about 2,000 attacks occurred between 2011 and 2016, implying more than one attack per day, with 39 gendarmes killed (Les Nouvelles, June
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20, 2016). According to figures of people killed presented in June 2018, about 4,000 people have been killed in five years, i.e., about 800 persons/year, within the context of dahalo attacks. The number divided into 900 civilians, 100 gendarmes and 3,000 bandits
(L’Express, June 23, 2018). The latest numbers for 2018 indicate that some 450 people lost their lives due to attacks, mostly civilians, but us well 18 gendarmes (L’Express,
December 22, 2018) and 136 dahalo (L’Express, January 5, 2019). My informants insist, however, that much more villagers and bandits were killed (sometimes even by gendarmes), but their deaths were not reported to state officials, as to avoid investigations and bureaucratic difficulties. Illegal lynching of people supposed to be dahalo by village communities, by vigilante movements and sometimes by gendarmes are a well-known but officially silenced part of rural live.
Society and Magical Worldview in Rural Madagascar
The reality of these attacks, counter-attacks, and existential insecurity – embedded in a
‘Wild Western Film’-like scenario with ranchers, state security forces and cattle rustlers as the main actors demonstrate a simple law: those who are stronger in terms of arms, ruse and connections to official or unofficial networks will emerge victorious. However, the villagers, bandits and probably some of the gendarmes, interpret each attack, each incident, within the ideas of a magical worldview as sketched above. These conflicts end up (in their view) in a form of combat of magical power and counter-power, or, one might say, charm battles. Before presenting more detailed accounts of such charm battles, it is necessary to present some aspects of the importance of magic and magical thinking within past and contemporary Malagasy society.
For Western or ‘modern’ educated people, including parts of the Malagasy population, it might be difficult to appreciate and accept the importance of magical beliefs within the
12 population.iii However, closer research indicates that magical beliefs represent an important aspect of the interpretative ‘window’ on the world for the majority of the rural
(as well as much of the urban) Malagasy population, with numerous effects on social practices, i.e., the way in which they generally understand and act upon the world, rather than merely with respect to the attacks of the dahalo. Furthermore, these beliefs are not uniform, as they are not part of an organized structure. They are developing and enacted
‘freely,’ according to multiple individual and contextual conditions. A very common expression of these beliefs is for example the interpretation of individual success, failure or illness as resulting from magical practices, brought upon by close individuals and often expressed through the notion of jealousy.
As the fundamental ideas and practices of the Malagasy religious and especially magical cosmos are very well-elaborated, only some essentials arguments will be presented in the following paragraph.43 The ‘old’ (but still very much alive) Malagasy worldview is based on the assumption of a hierarchical, complex and almost uncontrollable cosmos of interplaying forces, including numerous kinds of transcendental forces. Part of this general assumption is the belief that humans have the capacity to manipulate these forces to achieve their objectives, i.e., to rise to a higher hierarchical level of importance relative to other individuals in the given social cosmos. Such a worldview is distant from the exclusive idea of monotheism, but allows for an unproblematic, parallel recognition of many forces, including those connected to nature. The latter forces intrinsic (for instance) to specific plants or objects might be used by the manipulation of specialists (e.g., sorcerers or mpisavy, mediums possessed by ancestral spirits or tromba, and others) to
iii Malagasy academics and functionaries with whom I am in close contact burst into laughter
when confronted by the beliefs and actions of their rural compatriots.
13 achieve well-defined objectives that might include, in the context of raids in middle- western Madagascar, protection for villagers, vigilantes and dahalo alike against bullets, the protection of zebu cattle, or invincibility. Talismans or charms are regularly produced, encapsulating the magical power sought, called gris-gris or ody gasy. Another common element in the context of magical beliefs (or in general sacral authority) is the necessity of observing a more or less important list of bans (fady) as evidence of a believer’s dedication and central to the smooth operating of the charms.
It should be added, however, that followers of the magical beliefs often insist on their essentially critical perspective of the world. Indeed, they are far from accepting naively all claims. Nevertheless, their reasoning is biased by the general acknowledgement of the possibility, as well as in their view the fact of pervading reality of magical power. The
‘Children of the Black’ and the ‘Red Clothes’ both had to first prove the effectiveness of their methods to suspicious farmers and villagers. Such proof consisted of successful or, more precisely, miraculous actions against bandits, thereby displaying the superior and supernatural forces they use. Once the effectiveness of the ‘magical power’ has been proven, villagers are prepared to accept it.
Charm battles
Let us follow now the account of an attack that helped establish the reputation of the
Zazamainty vigilantes near the town of Betafo in 2016. According to the informant, approximately 45 dahalo had raided about 100 zebu cattle. The Zazamainty and the villagers split up into several small groups and followed the traces. A small group of only seven reached the bandits, who were camping near a place called Ambohimanambola:
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When we approached, we were awaited by the bandits. They were well- equipped with arms and they were wearing military clothesiv. […] They fired at us, but without success. We were just seven against 45. We advanced to break through the order of the bandits who tried to protect the cattle behind them. They fired but their cartridges once fired became smoke, or immediately became smoke. We arrived near to them. […] Their boss was encircled by three of us Zazamainty, while the others were still fighting. The firearms of the bandits weren’t able to shoot anymore, without knowing why, they were blocked. The three Zazamainty took the firearm of the boss and killed him. As the other bandits saw that, they fled with all their arms, including guns [caliber] 35 and military Kalashnikovs, but they were intercepted by another of our groups and they had to return towards us. At this point many of them were blessed or killed. One of our 12-year-old boys asked them to give up. We were victorious and took all their arms. We shouted our cries of victory and took over all stolen cattle. It was from this incident onwards that the reputation of the Zazamainty grew.v
This story recounts, one might resume, a battle between the magical forces employed by the two parties, concluding with the transcendental superiority of the vigilantes. Some elements are clearly described and others indirectly implied: the fact that the dahalo shot but did not strike the vigilantes; that their firearms were later blocked; and that such a large number of bandits were unable to defend themselves easily. In sum, these elements combine so that the clash can be interpreted as a miraculous event.
Comparable histories fusing real and magical battles are narrated or known by many, if not all of the Zazamainty or Lambamena vigilantes. As they allow, in view of the local population, to verify and to prove the power manipulated and enacted and are part of a miracle story building. They are constantly told and retold and are easy to access. It should be enough to add some exemplary excerpts of such stories. On April 24, 2018, for example, a band of ‘about fifty bandits’ (interview with the Lambamena Philemon
iv The narrator later added that he believed that some of the bandits were gendarmes, as revealed
by the marks on their firearms. v Reported by Toky, an initiator, in February 2018.
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Andriamampandry) attacked the hamlet of Antsahatanteraka (district of
Tsiroanomandidy). Only one Lambamena vigilante, called Nada, dared to confront the bandits. Several dahalo shot, but only the balls of two merely touched his temple, producing a minor blessing. The pellets of another shot ‘fell down before his feet’, while the guns of others seemed to have ‘broken’—a surprising and ‘inexplicable’ success in the eyes of the villagers, as it seemed against all probability that one could survive such an attack alone. In another charm battle, Ramboanarivo, the Lambamena’s president, was confronted ca. 2015 by 17 dahalo, ‘all armed with sabers’ (interview with Ramboanarivo in Mandoto, April 2018). He put them to flight by throwing a stone anointed with pig fatvi against an attacker and by directing his ‘magic’ mirror against others who ‘were caught by dizziness.’ On another occasion, to give a final example, a Lambamena called Darvin left Mandoto, probably in 2016, and was attacked by Zazamainty vigilantes who ‘opened their flacons [with liquid prepared with charms]’vii, and while they were aiming at the target (Darvin), it whistled and clouded up’. ‘The thunder,’ Darvin narrated, ‘detonated three times. It was very close, but it produced only haze and failed’, implying his protection by Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
All of these (and many other) testimonials of charm battles are providing insights into a harsh reality and the ongoing dramatic events in rural Madagascar, albeit ‘packed’ into
vi Again, the use of pig fat manifests a Christian-inspired counter-magic against the transcendental
forces of the dahalo, connected to a ban of pigs. vii According to this informant, the Zazamainty would have an equivalent to the Lambamena’s
bottle of holy water. Given that the manipulation of weather phenomena is a well-established
aspect of traditional magic, it should be assumed that Ramboanarivo’s Christian holy water is
based on already existent practices in Madagascar.
16 an unusual language and forms of interpretation (at least in the perspective of the ethnographic outsiders). The population must manage a situation of ‘fist law’ with everybody doing his or her best to survive. The roles are fluid and dynamic: villagers might occasionally become bandits, as dahalo are often just normal villagers and gendarmes may seek to profit from instability (and even occasionally sustain the bandits).
This situation of disorder, instability and constant existential threat within the Malagasy
‘shadow state’ is, however, not particularly new but rather part of a long historical experience. Therefore, the above ‘reading’ of the aggressions as ‘charm battles’ has to be understood in the context of the local sociocultural tradition of self-defense. The decision of vigilantes to fight insecurity and to replace what would be the task of the state inevitably stimulates them to engage in these mystical battles, which are, in the above sketched context of a magical world view, just variants of one’s own inevitable battle in a chaotic cosmos of forces.
4. ‘Children of the Black’ and ‘Red Clothes’: New Vigilante Groups in Middle-
Western Madagascar
The area touched by the phenomenon of the two vigilante groups at the center of this article can be roughly located in the middle-western region of central Madagascar. The groups occupy a largely overlapping territory, with the Zazamainty radiating more to the north, to the region near the town of Maevatanana (Betsiboka region), about 220 km north-west of Antananarivo, and the Lambamena more to the south, to the town of Ilakaka
(Ihorombe region), renowned for the ‘wild’ exploitation of sapphire, ca. 500 km south- west of Antananarivo. However, the origin of both movements and the center of activity
17 today is linked to the vigilante territory between the town of Mandoto, located about 120 km west of Antsirabe (Vakinankaratra regionviii), and Tsiroanomandidy (Bongolava region), a town about 200 km west of Antananarivo (see map).
[Map: Distribution of the vigilantes in middle-western Madagascar in 2018]
The area of research might be globally characterized as an intermediary region between the central highlands and the western coast, largely constituted of rolling hill, a mainly woodless prairie that serves as pasture for cattle, and valleys with rice agriculture. It is a kind of pioneer region and was until recently only very sparsely inhabited, serving mostly as a transitional region between the west coast and central Madagascar, with the long- established Bara people in southern Madagascar as an exception.44 Lately, however, the number of inhabitants is increasing due to migration from the more densely populated central parts of the island (Betsileo and Merina people), as well by people from southern
Madagascar (Bara, Antandroy and Mahafaly), thus developing the characteristics of a mosaic-like population.45
The Origins of Zazamainty and Lambamena
The overall context of the emergence of the Zazamainty and Lambamena groups is, as has already been noted, that of the local experience of an important increase in insecurity in 2015 and 2016, largely linked to cattle raiding. The general dynamic was seen by my
viii The 22 regions are the highest administrative level below the Malagasy national government.
18 informants as resulting from a reinforcing of criminal networks by influential local and high-ranking governmental personalities.46 Another main cause was the political dynamic, with the weak president Hery Rajaonarimampianina (2014-2018) seeking to consolidate his power base by create elitist pacts.47 However, it should be added that another group called Jama (or Zama, i.e., ‘Mother’s brother’48), which is probably very similar to the Zazamainty, would have already existed some years earlier. This group, which provides security services for payment and was known only vaguely by my informants, seems to be more active in the southix and north-westx, but is less known in the middle-western regions.
The creation of the new vigilante groups is connected to individuals who were able to transform his or her own experiences of local insecurity into an attractive offer for rural communities and villagers. In fact, as will become clear, the founders are charismatic personalities who base their respective organizations on the idea of magical power, offering access to future adherents.
In the case of the Zazamainty (Plate 1), the founding personality is named Rasoanaivo, a man perhaps now in its sixties, and better-known by adherents by the abbreviated name
Soanaivo or simply Dadabe (‘Grandfather’), the latter as a surname used to underline his position of respect.xi He has worked throughout his life essentially as a magician or healer
(mpimasy, ombiasy) in rural areas. His origins are probably from the east coast, but he has lived and worked ‘on demand’ mostly in western regions, among others in and near the town of Mandoto (Vakaninkaratra Region). His biography thus evokes elements of
ix Documentary film ‘The Zebu and the Zama’, IRIN, April 14, 2014. x Journal L’Express, December 15, 2018. xi Interview with Rasoanaivo, March 1, 2018.
19 the wandering healers or astrologers (misara, katibo) of the past, whose knowledge represents the reference point for most Malagasy healers today.49
In about 2015 or 2016, Rasoanaivo and his eight sons and associated villagers successfully defended the village of Anakavandra (Menabe region), to which he is connected by family bonds, and also secured the neighboring area. As the narrative regarding such effective defense spread among the villagers, Rasoanaivo became highly regarded and he decided to offer a more formalized form of initiation to those seeking support, which resulted in the founding of the Zazamainty association. He and his sons subsequently formed Zazamainty vigilantes in the vast area of the middle-western regions, between Fianarantsoa and Maevatanana. At the end of 2016, the deputy Harson
Raolijaona invited Rasoanaivo to secure his circumscription around the town of
Tsiroanomandidy, offering him a house in the nearby village of Andranomadio, which today continues to serve as the center for adherents.
In many respects, the work of Rasoanaivo and his sons might be understood as a successful business project, without denying their intention to contribute to find solutions to the critical situation of the local communities. The costs for adherence to the
Zazamainty amounts to 130,000 to 150,000 Malagasy Ariary (about 32-37 €)xii, which should be viewed as a large amount for villagers who probably earn less than 100.000
Ar./month. As the number of all Zazamainty can be loosely estimated at several thousand at least. Rasoanaivo and his family have therefore developed a profitable economical enterprise out of the problem of disorder.
xii At the end of 2018, the exchange rate was about 4.000, - Ar./1 €.
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The Lambamena group (s. Plate 2), or officially ‘Jesoa Kristy Fandresana Lambamena’
(The Red Clothes of the Triumphant Jesus Christ), the second vigilante association, was founded by an individual called Martin Ramboanarivo (and referred to by his adherents as Ramary, Sefoxiii Ramary or Rasefo). In 2018, Ramboanarivo was perhaps in his early thirties. He originated from the village of Ambatonikila, a few kilometers north of the town of Betafo, where he was born as part of ‘a numerous and impoverished family’xiv of
Betsileo identity. During an apprenticeship as a mechanic, probably in or around 2008, he underwent a visionary or religious experience that influenced him to later found a vigilante group.
He recounted how he encountered two (Christian) sisters called Robine and Clémentine,xv who ultimately led him to a church where they ‘were welcomed by many saints.’ Before returning to Earth, the sisters presented him with the mission of supporting the suffering
Malagasy population. It should be added that belief in contact with spirits of all kinds is widespread and a part of ordinary life among many rural Malagasy: many if not most people would know or have heard about a person within the enlarged family or neighborhood who had been possessed by or was in contact with spirits.50 The vision of
Ramobanarivo is therefore probably understood by local people as a (rather unusual)
Christian variant of such practice.
In the years following this kind of inspiration, Ramobanarivo slowly tested the ‘thing’
(zavatra), (i.e., the gift transmitted to him by the sisters), first by helping people with minor problems, mostly in the western regions of Madagascar. Whenever he achieved
xiii From French chef, i.e., boss. xiv Interview with Ramboanarivo, March 2018. xv In spite of the French names, the sisters are described as Malagasy.
21 success, he started to confront the problem of security and sustaining villagers against the attacks of the bandits, since about 2016 living in the town of Mandoto. As the rumor of the efficiency of his methods spread among the villagers, he was invited to several regions and communes to transmit his knowledge and to found sub-groups, similar to the development of the Zazamainty in the middle-western region as defined above.
However, the adherence fee to the Lambamena is 10,000,- Malagasy Ariary (ca. 2.50 €), and is thus considerably lower than that of the Zazamainty, rendering it more accessible for villagers. In this way, Ramboanarivo offers his service for a negligible fee and leaves the question of compensation for accomplished service to those benefitting, as in the case of many other Malagasy healers. Thus, the Lambamena are able to attract members and self-support to a probably much greater extent than the Zazamainty.
At the end of 2018, both vigilante groups represented highly developed organizations and dynamic new elements in their respective rural areas. Both groups have officialized their status and are at present registered under regular civil law as associations in order to enjoy basic legal recognition for their activities and to avoid accusations of lynching.xvi They issue signed badges to each member with a passport photo so as to legitimize them when in action in the eyes of villagers or gendarmes (Plate 3). Given that there are no statistics available and the situation is fluid, it is very difficult to estimate the numbers of adherents.
Most probably, taking into account the number of regions involved, both groups must
xvi The Lambamena were registered on January 25, 2018 at the Head of the District of Mandoto,
according to a copy of the ‘Certificate of the Depot of the Dossier.’
22 have gained several thousand adherents, mostly male, but with a small number of women too, perhaps numbering between 3,000 and 10,000 members each.xvii
[Plate 1: A group of Zazamainty vigilantes, March 2018 (Andranomadio, near
Tsironomandidy, photo by author)]
[Plate 2: A meeting of the Lambamena vigilantes, May 2018 [Ambatonikila (near Betfao), photo by author]
[Plate 3: The badge of the president of the Lambamena, May 2018]
[Plate 4: The initiation of two Zazamainty, March 2018 (Andranomadio, near
Tsironomandidy, photo by author)]
Inside the Vigilantes: Initiation, Rules and Equipment
Both founders of the two vigilante groups follow a seemingly clearly established socio- cultural script in rural areas, most likely also used by cattle rustlers (dahalo). They propose access to some kind of sacral or magical authority and benediction through initiation, confirmed by the requirement for new members to follow certain rules and taboos. At the same time, unspoken they construe a new form of cohesion, solidarity and confidence between otherwise unconnected individuals. Consequently, the confrontation between vigilantes and bandits becomes, according to the perspectives of the actors, a charm battle, or rather an indissoluble amalgam of real and charm battles.
xvii Nevertheless, some Lambamena have estimated that their total numbers have risen to several
tens of thousands.
23
The initiation of a new Zazamainty is a relatively short ceremony, lasting 15 minutes
(Plate 4).xviii The future initiand arrives at this occasion with his or her prepared equipment before the initiator, including a blackxix scarf (lambamainty, fehilohamainty), to which several protecting charms are typically fixed, a cowhorn (mohara), which accommodates charms, a black belt (lambamainty) worn diagonally from one shoulder to the waist, and arms, usually a sabre (sabatra), produced locally. The scarf and the charms are related iconographically to the pre-colonial past: Sakalava warriors of 19th century, for example, wore such objects when ready for combat.51 During a long prayer, a multitude of nature spirits (zanahary) are called upon to protect and support the initiand, but more specifically spirits related to the south-east and west, like the kokolampy or atsimo-tany, including an enumeration of the spirits of the mountains and rivers of these regions (initiation on March, 19 2018, by one of the sons of Rasoanarivo in
Andranomadio). Rasoanaivo insisted upon the importance of special magical charms from Nosy Varika on the south-east coast. He had specifically asked for these, which were created during the 1947 insurrection against French colonial order and were still held secretly, he said, to fight against insecurity.xx The initiation ritual included the marking of the equipment as well of the initiand using white points (tany ravo) from chalk, as is used universally in Madagascar as a sign of blessing.
xviii Only some essential aspects will be highlighted for both vigilante groups. A complete analysis
and understanding of all elements and expressions would be a paper on its own. xixxix The colour black of the scarf is related, according to my informants, to the nature spirits
protecting the vigilante. xx This kind of analog magical reasoning is very common.
24
The sacred forces invoked and transformed should allow the initiand to defend him or herself against enemies and their (magical) forces, including hail or thunderbolts, vengeance (of the family of the killed or injured bandits), or all kinds of firearms, whether a ‘Kalashnikov,’ a ‘revolver’ or a ‘cannon [of caliber] 16,’ as was explained during the prayer. The initiands must also acknowledge a short list of 10 internal rules, including an interdiction to ‘terrorize people on the street in a village or town’ (Art. 1), an obligation to ‘report all incidents to local authorities’ (Art. 8), and ‘to love each other’ (Art. 10).xxi
They must also attend to a long list of about 80 interdictions or taboos (fady). These include for example an interdiction to be ‘overtaken on a road or, especially, during a combat,’ ‘to eat pork meat’ and ‘that their clothing is being washed by women.’
Transgressing these obligatory taboos is usually considered to be the cause of all kinds of misfortune, including being injured or killed during combat. A liberation from taboos is potentially against payment.
The initiation process of the Lambamena is relatively complex as initiands must pass a hierarchical system of 20 total repeated initiations in order to slowly access higher degrees of knowledge and responsibility, with the seventh, fifteenth and twentieth levels considered especially important. Prayers assume a clear Roman-Catholic direction by invoking ‘the Holiness the Pope,’ ‘the Diocese Antsirabe,’ ‘the sisters Robine,
Clémentine and Safidy,’xxii as well as ‘Jesus Christ the Conqueror,’ and use the final formula ‘In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen’ (prayer by
xxi “Fitsipika anaty ny zazamainty,” i.e., “Interior Statue of the Zazamainty,” ca. 2017. xxii This third sister was added later, and even a fourth more recently. This corresponds to the
practice of many Malagasy mediums possessed by kings or ancestors, who might add during
the course of their career a large number of spirits.
25
Ramboanarivo, during a seventh level initiation on May 26, 2018 in Ambatonikila, north of Betafo). While this prayer may appear to be a very Christian text, it should simultaneously be read as a variant of the more ‘traditional’ invocation of the Zazamainty presented above. It is therefore a fascinating example of Malagasy syncretism, with two overlapping meanings. During the more significant levels of initiation, the imitator pierces the skin of the initiand using a needle, which is regarded by the Lambamena as a weapon against firearms, in several locations on both arms, the neck, back and chest.
According to analogous magical thinking, this practice is considered protection against bullets.
The same logic of syncretism can be seen in the equipment and establishment of internal rules and interdictions. When in action, the members of the ‘Red Clothes’ wear a redxxiii scarf (lambamena, fehilohamena) on their head, to which a bone of a pigxxiv or cow as well as a plant is fixed to the interior, as well as at times a red belt fixed diagonally between the shoulder and wrist (lambamena).xxv Their equipment also includes a small
xxiii Red is on Madagascar usually the colour of power and of kings. The founder of the
Menalamba explained the selection of the colour red as an association to the blood of Jesus. xxiv Within the traditional magical system, pig meat is regularly taboo (fady), as noted for the
Zazamainty. The usage of pig bones by the Christian Lambamena must therefore be
understood as a counteragent against the magical power of the cattle thieves and the
Zazamainty. xxv The Lambamena are not aware of the existence of Menalamba in Malagasy history, a group
of highlanders revolting against the French colonial regime (1895-1899; Ellis, The rising of
the red shawls). The Menalamba (i.e. Red Togas) coloured their clothes red by using the ‘holy’
red laterite soil of Madagascar (Ellis, Un complot colonial, 43).
26 bottle of ‘holy water’ (ranovoahasina), i.e., water consecrated by a Catholic priest and diluted with stream water, which according to preference has ‘not seen the daylight,’ thereby expressing the idea of pure, untouched water. This water is used to continually bless the body and the material. The Lambamena also constantly wear a rosary (sapilet, vakana), several small mirrors (fitaratra, generally with one on the forehead, one on the back of the head, and another on the breast), a needle (fanjaitra, fixed within the habit), and arms. As opposed to the aforementioned ‘magical’ arms, the latter tend to be sabers
(sabatra), or daggers (antsy), machetes (fibara, famakikely, tsaboresaka, or, in French, coupe-coupe), spears (lefona), or, but more rarely, firearms (fitaovam- piadianamampiasavanja), especially guns (basy). While the needle is regarded as a form of protection against bullets, the mirrors are used as a special form of arms: to reflect against enemies and thereby create ‘dizziness.’ As for the rules, the Lambamena have in particular ‘respect scrupulously the ten holy commandments of God’ and they must avoid a small number of transgressions comparable to traditional fady (taboo), such as eating renal meat, drinking alcohol, practicing adultery and behaving in opposition to the commandments.
These details, which are far from complete, give an idea of the complexity of the magical world view followed by the actors and of the logic of operations generated by these details. The self-imposed responsibility of creating order requires, in their experience, a meticulous effort to control the many possible dangers. The vigilantes feel urged to draw on the long-established sociocultural code of the context they are living in and to connect their vigilante effort, violence and magical practices.
27
Conclusion
The island of Madagascar does not escape the rule: countries caught in the legal/real state dynamic offer fertile ground for vigilantism, which is embedded in a conservative worldview linking vigilante action and magical worldview. Thus, the recent development of the Zazamainty and Lambamena vigilantes in the middle-western territory of the island somewhat normalizes the Malagasy situation in comparison to an already well- established phenomenon on the African continent, as well as in other parts of the world.
Nevertheless, independent village self-defense is already a centuries-old practice in
Madagascar and has slowly transformed into proper vigilantism through the development of modern state structures. Following a quieter period during the colonial regime and the initial years of independence, economic liberalization and the intensification of clandestine networks instigated the reinforcement of self-defense. Malagasy vigilantism has become by now, with the Zazamainty and Lambamena groups, a distinct and clearly recognizable phenomenon on the island of Madagascar, providing a new form of expression to the deeply anchored logics of charm battles.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Funding
28
This project was supported by the European Union’s Framework Programme for
Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie
Grant Agreement No. 702497 - DySoMa.
29
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Pratten and Sen, eds., Global vigilantes, Kirsch and Grätz, eds., Domesticating vigilantism, Berg and Wendt, eds., Global lynching, Lahai and Lyons, eds., African frontiers, Schuberth, Community-based armed groups, Pfeifer, ed., Global lynching. 2 Johnston, What is vigilantism?, 226, as paraphrased by Kirsch and Grätz, Domesticating vigilantism, 5. 3 Ibid., Schubert, Community-based armed groups, 2. 4 Abrahams, Vigilante citizens, 7. 5 Kirsch and Grätz, Vigilantism, state ontologies and encompassment, 8. 6 Schuberth, Communiy-based armed groups, 1. 7 Pereira and Davis, eds., Irregular armed forces, Francis, ed., Civil militia, Lund, Twilight institutions, Schubert, Community-based armed groups. 8 Bayart, Africa in the world, 230. 9 Bayart, State in Africa. 10 Ibid. 11 Reno, Shadow states. 12 Duffy, Gemstone mining, 187. 13 Kirsch and Grätz, Domesticating vigilantism, 4. 14 Kirsch and Grätz, Domesticating vigilantism. 15 Some African examples summarized by Kirsch and Grätz, Vigilantism, state ontologies and encompassement, 3, and within their reader. See e.g. as well the reader of Berg and Wendt, Globalizing lynching. 16 Kirsch and Grätz, Vigilantism, state ontologies and encompassment, 2. 17 Kirschner, Putting Out the Fire, 586. 37 18 Bailey, Magic: the basics, 5. 19 Some recent studies: Behrend, Alice Lakwena, Crais, The politics of evil, Nicolini, Studies in witchcraft, Wlodarczyk, Magic and warfare, Allen, Vigilantes, Witches, and Vampires. 20 Sen and Pratten, Global vigilantes, 15. 21 Ibid., with specific reference to the state. 22 Mukonoweshuro, State ‘resilience’, 377, Rasamoelina, Communautés villageoises, Pellerin, Gérer l’héritage, 18-20, Gardini, Rural insecurity, 68-70, Lambek, Historicity, 327, Gingembre, Being heard, 166, Pellerin, Criminalité multiforme, 21- 23. – Pellerin uses the French term milice (militia) for community-based armed groups (milices civiles) as well as for groups of armed bandits (milices armées de dahalo). Nevertheless, a ‘militia’ in the conventional sense would either mean a ‘military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency’ (Oxford Living Dictionaries: ‘militia’) or a ‘military force that engages in rebel or terrorist activities in opposition to a regular army’ (ibd.). In both cases they are linked more to a political dimension, at odds with the dominant security dimension of the vigilantes (Schubert, Community-based armed groups, 7). 23 Cornwall, Stumbling, 7, Cole, Conceptions of memory, 228, 231. 24 Rasamoelina, Communautés villageoises, s. Götter, New transhumance, 2, for an overview of the literature, mainly established since mid-20th century. 25 Beaujard, Les Mondes, 127, 351. – Interestingly, this author notes that cattle without humps are also mentioned in Malagasy legends (Ibid., 342). 26 Flacourt, Histoire, 95-96, Drury, Adventures, 94-149. 27 Götter, New transhumance, 2, citing e.g. Fauroux, Voleurs de bœeuf. 28 Hooper, Feeding globalization, e.g. 22, 49. 38 29 Sermet, Anthropologie juridique, 115. 30 Ibid., 117. 31 Wright, Early state formation, 107-109. 32 Sermet, Anthropologie juridique, 116-117. 33 Scheidecker, Cattle, conflicts, 129. 34 Ibid., 130. 35 Ibid., for a review of the literature. 36 Rasamoelina, Communautés villageoises. 37 Scheidecker, Cattle, conflicts, 130. 38 Sermet, Anthropologie juridique, 116. 39 Pellerin, Gérer l’héritage, 21-22, Pellerin, Criminalité multiforme, 23; my own observations of dina in the Menabe, Melaky or Bongolava regions. 40 Loi 2001. 41 Pellerin, Criminalité uniforme, 21-22, Pellerin, Gérer l’héritage, 18. 42 Kneitz, Introduction, 52. 43 Ruud, Taboo, Vig, Charmes, Delivré, L’histoire des rois, Vig, Croyances et mœurs, Graeber, Love magic, Ruud, Gods and ancestors, Graeber, Lost people, e.g. 35-38, 156-158. 44 Scheidecker, Cattle, conflicts. 45 CAPFIDA, Rapports d’analyse; for the Bongolava region, but certainly true of most of the ‘vigilante area.’ 46 Confirmed by Pellerin, Gérer l’héritage and Criminalité uniforme, Chen and Landry, Where Africa meets Asia, 11. 47 Pellerin, Gérer l’héritage, 9. 48 Lambek, Historicity, 327. 39 49 Ramamonjisoa, Questions sur Andriamisara, Rakotomalala, Les cultures autochtones, 307. 50 Kneitz, Sakalava pilgrimage, 268. 51 Gallieni, Neuf ans à Madagascar, Plate 23, vis-à-vis 92, Kneitz, Lords of muskets, Plate. 40 Figures: Map [see individual document] [Map: Distribution of the vigilantes in middle-western Madagascar in 2018] [Plate 1] [Plate 1: A group of Zazamainty vigilantes, March 2018 (Andranomadio, near Tsironomandidy, photo by author)] 41 [Plate 2] [Plate 2: A meeting of the Lambamena vigilantes, May 2018 [Ambatonikila (near Betfao), photo by author] [Plate 3] [Plate 3: The badge of the president of the Lambamena, with St. Michael fighting against Satan, May 2018] 42 [Plate 4] [Plate 4: The initiation of two Zazamainty, March 2018 (Andranomadio, near Tsironomandidy, photo by author)] 43