Peter Geschiere – författare

Despite being told that we now live in a cosmopolitan world, more and more people have begun to assert their identities in ways that are deeply rooted in the local. These claims of autochthony—meaning “born from the soil”—seek to establish an irrefutable, primordial right to belong and are often employed in politically charged attempts to exclude outsiders. In The Perils of Belonging, Peter Geschiere traces the concept of autochthony back to the classical period and incisively explores the idea in two very different contexts: Cameroon and the Netherlands.

            In both countries, the momentous economic and political changes following the end of the cold war fostered anxiety over migration. For Cameroonians, the question of who belongs where rises to the fore in political struggles between different tribes, while the Dutch invoke autochthony in fierce debates over the integration of immigrants. This fascinating comparative perspective allows Geschiere to examine the emotional appeal of autochthony—as well as its dubious historical basis—and to shed light on a range of important issues, such as multiculturalism, national citizenship, and migration.

The notion of citizenship has gradually evolved from being simply a legal status or practice to a deep sentiment. Belonging, or feeling at home, hasbecome a requirement. This groundbreaking book analyzes how ''feeling rules'' are developed and applied to migrants, who are increasingly expected to express feelings of attachment, belonging, connectedness and loyalty to their new country. More than this, however, it demonstrates how this culturalization of citizenship is a global trend with local variations, which develop in relation to each other. The authors pay particular attention to the intersection between sexuality, race and ethnicity, spurred on by their awareness of the dialectical construction of homosexuality, held up as representative of liberal Western values by both those in the West and by African leaders, who use such claims as proof that homosexuality is un-African. 

Ce livre trouve son origine dans une expérience que j''ai vécue au début de mon premier séjour chez les Maka de l''est du Cameroun, en 1971. Une nuit, ma voiture tomba en panne, et je me trouvai en pleine forêt dans le noir, avec Meké, mon nouvel assistant, qui devait jouer un rôle de premier plan dans mes recherches. La situation me paraissait assez pénible. Mais Meké avait, pour sa part, de tout autres préoccupations. Il m''affirma, d''un ton excité : " Ah ! si Mendouga était avec nous ! Nous sommes des innocents. Mais elle verrait les sorciers qui rôdent dans la nuit. Elle a le pouvoir : elle peut voir ce qu''ils couvent. "

Pour les Maka, il n''est guère possible de parler du pouvoir sans se référer aux forces occultes du djambe (la " sorcellerie "). Cela vaut pour la politique locale, mais aussi pour les relations " modernes " avec l''Etat et la politique nationale.

Le but de ce livre est d''explorer, en partant de quelques exemples camerounais, comment cette " modernité " de la sorcellerie - sa permanence dans des contextes nouveaux - marque les développements politiques de l''Afrique contemporaine.