The Perils of Belonging

by Geschiere, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780226289649
• ISBN10: 0226289648
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-04-30
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Despite being told that we now live in a cosmopolitan world, more and more people have begun to assert their identities in ways that are deeply rooted in the local. These claims of autochthonymeaning "born from the soil"seek to establish an irrefutable, primordial right to belong and are often employed in politically charged attempts to exclude outsiders. InThe Perils of Belonging, Peter Geschiere traces the concept of autochthony back to the classical period and incisively explores the idea in two very different contexts: Cameroon and the Netherlands. In both countries, the momentous economic and political changes following the end of the cold war fostered anxiety over migration. For Cameroonians, the question of who belongs where rises to the fore in political struggles between different tribes, while the Dutch invoke autochthony in fierce debates over the integration of immigrants. This fascinating comparative perspective allows Geschiere to examine the emotional appeal of autochthonyas well as its dubious historical basisand to shed light on a range of important issues, such as multiculturalism, national citizenship, and migration.

Author Biography

Peter Geschiere is professor of African anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and the author of The Modernity of Witchcraft: Politics and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction

Autochthony—the Flip Side of Globalization? A Primordial yet Global Form of Belonging?

Autochthony’s Genealogy

Some Elements Autochthony Now

Globalization and the Neoliberal Turn Autochthony and the Tenacity of the Nation-State Historical Construction, Political Manipulation and Emotional Power Approach

From Identity to Subjectivation and Aesthetics Plan of the Book

Cameroon

Autochthony, Democratization ,and New Struggles over Citizenship Belonging to a Nonexistent Province Elite Associations and Autochthony

Different Degrees of Citizenship?

The “Sea People” Protected by the New Constitution Debates in the Cameroonian Press Autochthony’s “Naturalness”

The Funeral as a Final Test for Belonging A Tortuous History An Empty Discourse with Segmentary Implications Conclusion

Cameroon

Decentralization and Belonging The East and the New Importance of the Forest The New Forest Law Participation in Practice The Elusive Community The Community as Stakeholder

Belonging and Exclusion Village orGrande Famille?

The Halfhearted Belonging of the External Elites DiscoveringAllogènesat Ever Closer Range Conclusion

African Trajectories Ivory Coast

Identification and Exclusion Elsewhere in Africa “Pygmy” Predicaments

Can Only Citizens Qualify as Autochthons?

Autochthony in Europe

The Dutch Turn The Dutch Switch

From Multiculturalism to Cultural Integration Overview

How the Netherlands Became an “Immigration Country” National Consensus and Its History—the Dutch Way Alternative Solutions A More Forceful Integration Allochtonen

A New Term on the Dutch Scene Elusive Autochthony History and Culture Comparisons

Cameroon

Nation-Building and Autochthony as Processes of Subjectivation Nation-Building as an Everyday Reality Rituals of Belonging

The Funeral at Home as a Celebration of Autochthony

Epilogue

Can the Land Lie?

Autochthony’s Uncertainties in Africa and Europe Varying Patterns of Nation-Building in Africa and Their Implications Autochthony and the Search for Ritual in Europe

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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