Sovereignty in Exile: A Saharan Liberation Movement Governs

313 Pages·2016·5.898 MB·English

by  Wilson, A.

Sovereignty in Exile
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF PO LITI CAL VIO LENCE
Tobias Kelly, Series Editor
A complete list of books in the series
is available from the publisher.
Sovereignty in Exile
A Saharan Liberation Movement Governs
Alice Wilson
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS
PHILADELPHIA
Copyright © 2016 University of Pennsylvania Press
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used
for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this
book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written
permission from the publisher.
Published by
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112
www . upenn . edu / pennpress
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
on acid- free paper
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
ISBN 978-0-8122-4849-4
For my parents

CONTENTS
Introduction. The Social Relations of Sovereignty 1
PART I. ASPIRATIONS
Chapter 1. Hindsight Visions: Tribe and State Power
as Proj ects of Sovereignty 37
Chapter 2. Revolutionary Foundations: Unmaking Tribes
and Making State Power 59
PART II. COMPROMISES
Chapter 3. Unpop u lar Law: Tribal, Islamic, and State Law,
and the Fall of Popu lar Justice 89
Chapter 4. Tax Evasion: Appropriation and Re distribution
Without Tax or Rent 116
Chapter 5. Managing Inequalities: Organ izing Social
Stratifi cation, or Marriage Reinvented 147
PART III. DILEMMAS
Chapter 6. Troubling Markets: Tribes, Gender,
and Ambivalent Commodifi cation 183
viii Contents
Chapter 7. Party- less Demo crats: Electing the Best Candidate
or the Biggest Tribe 204
Conclusion: Revolution as Moral Contract 236
Appendix 1. Notes on Transliteration and Transcription 245
Appendix 2. Tribes in Western Sahara 247
Notes 251
References 259
Index 277
Acknowl edgments 293
If you shrink from the l abors of sovereignty,
do not claim any of its honors.
— Pericles