
TL;DR
This paper explores the Sahel as a dynamic space of circulation, emphasizing historical mobility, changing regional networks, and the impact of modern security and development policies on its spatial understanding.
Contribution
It offers a novel perspective by redefining the Sahel as a fluid, mobile space rather than a fixed bioclimatic zone or ungoverned area, highlighting historical and contemporary spatial dynamics.
Findings
Sahel historically functioned as a network of markets and social links.
Colonial powers altered mobility patterns and control strategies.
Modern security policies reframe the Sahel's spatial boundaries.
Abstract
This chapter examines the geographical meaning of the Sahel, its fluid boundaries, and its spatial dynamics. Unlike other approaches that define the Sahel as a bioclimatic zone or as an ungoverned area, it shows that the Sahel is primarily a space of circulation in which uncertainty has historically been overcome by mobility. The first part of the paper discusses how pre-colonial empires relied on a network of markets and cities that facilitated trade and social relationships across the region and beyond. The second part explores changing regional mobility patterns precipitated by colonial powers and the new approach they developed to control networks and flows. The third part discusses the contradiction between the mobile strategies adopted by local herders, farmers and traders in the Sahel and the territorial development initiatives of modern states and international donors.…
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
