Paper short abstract:

As part of African-Soviet student mobilities, between the years 1960 and 1993, around forty young Tuareg and Berabish, including four women, were trained in the Soviet Union, in the former Soviet bloc and Cuba.

Paper long abstract:

As part of African-Soviet student mobilities, between the years 1960 and 1993, around forty young Saharan from Mali and Niger (Tuareg and Berabish), including four women, were trained in the Soviet Union and in the former Soviet bloc, in the technical-scientific sector (medicine, engineering, geology, and chemistry). After an historical contextualization of these international student's trajectories through the difficult process of adapting to institutionalized formal schooling, I analyze their professional and political careers, both in Mali and Niger or in support of the current independence movements.‪ Understanding this part of African post-colonial contemporary history from the point of view of the new elites of nomadic and pastoral origin makes it possible to navigate the social interactions in landlocked regions, situated on the social peripheries of states, in contexts that Veena Das defines as often being 'unreadable' (Das 2004). Based on original, first-hand empirical data, my communication will first focus on these students' strategies, using an ethnographic and biographical approach that aims to capture the student's point of view.