Contribution short abstract:

The paper analyzes the transformation of social bonds in the context of insecurity in the Liptako-Gourma in Western Sahel. Drawing on joint field research recently carried out, I discuss the challenges of how to talk and write about the association of Fulani ethnicity with jihadist violence.

Contribution long abstract:

The paper aims to analyze the ongoing transformation of social bonds in the context of insecurity in the Liptako-Gourma in Western Sahel. Drawing on joint field research carried out in 2021 with Burkinabe, Malian, and Nigerien researchers regarding the impact of insecurity on social, political and cultural organization, religious practices, inter-community relations, access to resources, and relations with the State, I argue that social bonds are threatened, and the very social fabric of living together is breaking apart. During field research, we documented case studies and interviewed more than 200 people either still residing in their home areas or living as internally displaced persons (IDPs). Currently, the Liptako-Gourma counts 2.7 million IDPs. In this fieldwork simultaneously carried out in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, interlocutors referred to assailants as “those people” or “people of the bush” (that is, jihadists, assailants, bandits, etc.), and generally associated them with Fulani ethnicities. Oftentimes, stories revealed that “the assailants spoke Fulfulde,” and that “young Fulani men were committed to the jihadist cause.” Although this was nothing new per se, we soon encountered difficulties in how to talk and write about the stories of Fulani’s associations with jihadist violence. We developed some ways to address this upfront: make sociological analysis of marginalization, return to ethnographic monographs, and previous field research material. Most importantly, however, was our conversations with the many interlocutors who had stated that they [the Fulani] have to come back to restore the living together.