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MODERN NOMADS, VAGABONDS, OR COSMOPOLITANS? Reflections on Contemporary Tuareg Society

2010; University of Chicago Press; Volume: 66; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3998/jar.0521004.0066.401

2153-3806

Ines Kohl,

African Studies and Ethnography

The Tuareg traditional lifeways of nomadism and pastoralism have been facing vigorous challenges during recent decades. But the Tuareg are not just victims of global processes. Instead, they have developed creative strategies for dealing with and participating in the outside world, and they have shown an extensive capacity to adapt and to cope with transformation processes. This article deals with a part of recent Tuareg society (ishumar) and discusses whether the three terms "modern nomads," "vagabonds," and "cosmopolitans" suitably describe this "borderliner" society. Are ishumar "modern nomads" because they move irregularly, adapting to various situations, and, for the most part, according to individual choice or preference in the Libyan-Algerian-Nigerien-Malian borderlands? Are they simply "vagabonds," owing to their disrupted life circumstances and their lack of traditional morals, norms, and values? Or are they "cosmopolitans" because they are exiles and migrants, and victims of modernity?