'Sons of the Soil' and Contemporary State Making: autochthony, uncertainty and political violence in Africa

• Published in: Third world quarterly Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 113 - 127
• Main Author: Dunn, Kevin C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 01.02.2009; Routledge, Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Africa; African history; Autochtony; Capitalism; Citizenship; Cultural identity; Discourse; Discourse analysis; Employment; Ethnicity; Globalization; Human security; Identity; National security; Native peoples; Part One: The 'Crisis' of the Nation-State; Political identity; Political science; Political Violence; Politics; Postcolonialism; Sovereign states; Space; State building; Territoriality; Uncertainty; Violence; War; Africa
• ISSN: 0143-6597; 1360-2241
• DOI: 10.1080/01436590802622417

The employment of autochthony discourses has become a prominent feature of contemporary politics around the world. Autochthony discourses link identity and space, enabling the speaker to establish a direct claim to territory by asserting that one is an original inhabitant, a 'son of the soil'. Drawing from recent African examples, this contribution argues that the employment of autochthony discourses is an attractive response to the ontological uncertainty around political identities within the postmodern/postcolonial condition. Autochthony discourses can resonate deeply with populations longing for a sense of primal security in the face of uncertainty generated by a variety of sources, from the processes of contemporary globalisation to the collapse of neo-patrimonial structures. Yet this sense of security is inevitably fleeting, given the instability and plasticity of autochthony claims. The contribution examines why these discourses are often characterised by violence, and argues that autochthony is frequently linked to the desire for order inherent in contemporary state making, which invariably relies on multiple manifestations of violence.