What do military interventions by African states teach us? Should we consider them only as an opportunity for the elites to consolidate their power through international prestige? Or rather, should we see in these a political turn from which ordinary citizens imagine their state, construct their identity and their sense of belonging?
My project builds on the case of Chad to highlight how ordinary people socially construct their understanding of statehood. I explore the state as an immaterial artefact created in people’s mind, shaping their identity and their relationship to authority.
Empirically, this project is informed by the Chadian military intervention in Mali in January 2013. At that time, the Government of Chad responded to an international coalition built up in an effort to curb the expansion of jihadist groups within Mali. Despite not being a member of the ECOWAS (Economic Commission of West African States, the regional body), the government of Chad made the largest African contribution of troops into the regional coalition against terrorism. Ruling over a state with limited resources, the political elite in Chad has, nevertheless, shown its willingness, and its actual capacity, to demonstrate power and leadership in regional conflicts (first in Mali against jihadist groups, then subsequently in Cameroon against the Islamist terror group Boko Haram, and in the civil war in the Central African Republic). In return, from the perspective of the citizens, these interventions have given rise to a sense of pride, leading Chadians to reimagine their community and project themselves to the world at large.
My approach from below, ultimately, tries to make sense of this emerging social contract between the elite and the population. I will gather evidence for this research through ethnographic fieldwork, which I plan on conducting in Chad over this summer.