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Since the establishment of party politics in colonial Mauritania, and especially since independence in 1960, the Mauritanian political arena has been marked by ethnic tensions. The best example is certainly the ethnic violence that occurred at the end of the 1980s between the Arab-Berbers (Bidhan) and the "Black Africans." But in Mauritania, as in other countries marked by ethnic tensions and conflicts, it would be an analytical mistake to overlook other forms of group solidarity and other forms of conflict. Often, tensions based on ethnic differences unfold in conjunction with political struggles within ethnic communities, with accommodation across ethnic boundaries, and with debates about the type of political regime. These dynamics must be taken into account if we are to understand the significance of ethnicity as a political variable.

In sieben Länderartikeln untersuchen die Autoren den Gebrauch und Missbrauch von Ethnizität und ethnischen Problemen in Afrika im Zusammenhang mit Wahlen und politischen Machtkämpfen. Deutlich wird, wie Ethnizität konstruiert und anschließend für politische Zwecke genutzt werden kann. In einigen Beiträgen wird thematisiert ob und ggf. wie konfliktträchtige Ethnizität durch föderale Strukturen überwunden werden kann. (DÜI-Sbd)

As North African, Middle Eastern, and Sahelian societies adapt to the Post-Arab Spring era and the rise of violence across the area, various groups find in Islam an answer to the challenges of the era. This book explores how Islamist social movements, Sufi brotherhoods, and Jihadi armed groups, in their great diversity, elaborate their social networks, and recruit sympathizers and militants in complicated times. The book innovates by transcending regional boundaries, bringing together specialists of the three afore-mentioned regions. First, it highlights how geographically dispersed religious groups define themselves as members of a larger, universal Umma, while evolving in deeply embedded local contexts. Second, its contributors prioritize in-depth fieldwork research, offering fine-grained, original insights into the manifold mobilization of Islamist-inspired social movements in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Western Europe. The book sheds light on the tense debates and competition taking place amongst the different trends composing the Islamist galaxy and between other groups that also claim an Islamic legitimacy, including Sufi brotherhoods and ethnic and/or tribal groups as well. This book was originally published as a special edition of Mediterranean Politics3010

Long before the September 11 attacks galvanized Western attention on what has variously been called political Islam, Islamic fundamentalism, and Islamism, African nations with sizeable Muslim populations were experiencing significant transformations in the relationship between religion and state. Political Islam in West Africa explores those ongoing transformations in key countries of the Sahel region. Each country chapter provides both historical context and an examination of the changing nature of domestic politics and foreign policy in the post-September 11 world. Introductory and concluding chapters provide additional context and highlight overarching themes. A notable feature of the book is a comprehensive bibliography of Islamism in West Africa