Paper short abstract:

We explore the spatial and temporal paths of sovereignty-making in the Maasai Mara borderlands in Kenya. Opposing land claims have changed the landscape into fragmented spaces, escalating conflict between those erecting fences to protect their crops and those needing common access to grass and water

Paper long abstract:

The invisible authority characterizing frontiers often inhibits its inhabitants' sense of state representation. As it is with Kenya's Maasai Mara borderlands, multiple opposing resource claims can even transform landscapes into contested spaces.

Here, sovereignty has been contested between the state and the Maasai since the latter was moved there in 1911 by means of the Maasai Treaty. Despite declaring the area exclusively for Maasai use, the colonial state continuously bypassed the Maasai throughout the colonial period, approving multiple plans for settlement by non-Maasai, and even designating an area as a National Reserve. Additionally, in discussions leading to independence, the British Government maintained that the Maasai Treaty merely made them morally obliged to honour the Maasai's claim to adequate resources. Hence, they could not be held legally responsible if they decided not to. The landscape has not become less contested in postcolonial years. Recently, farming and fencing have increased dramatically, inhibiting the mobility of Maasai and migrating wildlife.

In our study, we combine spatial analyses of aerial photographs from the late 1960s with historical data from the National Archive (London), including how rhetorical narratives have historically been used to legitimize authority from (1) the colonial government and (2) the governed Maasai. Our presentation explores the spatial and temporal trajectories leading from 'invisible' authority and claims to land, through the parcelling of the landscape with fence lines, to the escalation of social and economic conflicts, including how structures of deception, fear and mistrust are now reflected in the need for physical boundaries.