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SUMMARY:A Global Conjuncture of Belonging?  Autochthony and Its Different 
 Trajectories  since the Post-Cold War Moment - Peter Geschiere
DTSTART:20131216T173000Z
DTEND:20131216T183000Z
UID:TALK49397@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Judith Weik
DESCRIPTION:The recent revival of the notion of autochthony -  elusive\, s
 hifting and yet powerful - offers strategic insights into what I came to c
 all (after Tania Murray Li) 'the global conjuncture of belonging' that see
 ms to be characteristic for 'the post-Cold War moment' (Charles Piot). The
  idea of such a conjuncture - apparently different trends that all converg
 e in making belonging an overriding concern - may help to understand prese
 nt day's uneasy articulation of increasing mobility and xenophobia. In thi
 s context autochthony serves as a buzzword since it expresses a kind of pr
 imordial form of belonging. Yet it follows highly different trajectories i
 n different parts of the world\, assuming shifting connotations. Despite s
 uch shifts the notion seems to have great mobilizing power in variable con
 texts. Striking is especially the paradox between its promise of basic sec
 urity - how could you belong more if you can claim to come from the soil? 
 - and the haunting uncertainty it expresses in practice. Stephen Jackson r
 ightly speaks of 'nervous languages.' Most autochthony discourses\, despit
 e all differences\, seem to be haunted by the fear of traitors hiding insi
 de - the flipside of which is the constant risk of being unmasked as a 'fa
 ke autochthon.' A comparison of the different trajectories of the notion i
 n Africa\, but also in Europe and elsewhere in the world\,  may help to un
 derstand its different potentialities. It can also address the question as
  to why the preoccupation with belonging and exclusion has become so centr
 al now\, in a world that thinks it is globalizing.\n
LOCATION:Room G24\, Faculty of Law\, University of Cambridge
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