Contribution short abstract:

In light of the 'polycrisis' in the Sahel region, this paper studies vigilantism in Burkina Faso as a cynical project of un/commoning by exploring the hegemonic and intersubjective complicities it creates in violent situations.

Contribution long abstract:

Koglweogo vigilante groups in urban Burkina Faso create multiple complicities for themselves and others. For the crime victims, it is morally delicate to summon the groups and expose the culprit to their punishments, especially if that person is a family member, a friend, or a business partner. At the same time, many are tired of being robbed and betrayed by kith and kin and feel left with no other choice. For the vigilantes, operating as yet another harmful force in their neighbourhoods, where people live in conditions of poverty, inequality, and political exclusion, creates its own controversial commonalities. They navigate this position with caution and sometimes use humour and laughter to play down the violent situations they create. For the anthropologist, participating in violent but also intimate situations of conflict and bitterness raises complicated questions on co-responsibility and the politics of ethnographic research. This paper draws on the notion of "living with complicity" to explore the troubled subjectivities and lived experiences of constraint surrounding vigilante politics while reflecting the researcher's complicity in the eyes of those concerned. By taking an in-depth look at the Koglweogo's interventions and contextualizing them in the post-colonial 'polycrisis' of the Sahel region, it will investigate how intersubjective and hegemonic dimensions of complicity shape and change violent situations and the emotions they produce. In doing so, the paper moves beyond a state-centred analysis of vigilantism and studies the phenomenon as a cynical project of un/commoning.