Thinking about African territoriality and identity through the notion of “roaming” in Achille Mbembe’s work

Abstract

African territoriality, as we know it today, is a product of colonisation. Indeed, the borders between states and the concept of the state were introduced in Africa by European colonial empires in order to manage their colonies. This had an impact on the relationship of Africans to space and cultural identities. If in the pre-colonial period, mobility and territorial and identity-based intranquillity were the major features of African societies, which often evolved in the midst of a system of territorial and identity roaming, in the colonial era things were apparently different. This is because the colonial authorities tried to introduce immobility where there was mobility. It was not until the post-colonial period, precisely the phenomenon of globalisation, that there was a symbolic return to pre-colonial mobility. The “digital revolution” has played a key role, especially as it ushers in the era of transnational identities and territoriality, particularly with the increased openness of the African continent to the world and the integration of the world into Africa.