National identity formation in transnational spaces: the case of the Sahrawis of Western Sahara
In: Transnational spaces and regional localization: social networks, border regions and local-global relations, S. 145-153
"The chapter analyses the situation of the Sahrawis, the people of Western Sahara, by examining how a strong sense of collective national identity has been nurtured and institutionalised among Sahrawi communities living in refugee camps in south-west Algeria and in the wider diaspora. Special emphasis is laid on the role played by the Sahrawi State, SADR, in institutionalising and normalising the Sahrawi national identity amidst the refugee community through the active deployment of its various state apparatuses and by inculcating a feeling of common citizenship. The discussion also focuses on the transnational experiences of Sahrawi diaspora and the political role played by these small but politically active groups. Overall, the chapter will seek to demonstrate that the Sahrawis have been able to construct and institutionalise a Sahrawi national identity despite separation and dispersion across various exilic and diasporic spaces. It will further argue that the Sahrawi experience of forging and sustaining a national identity across different transnational spaces may help to problematize the centrality of territoriality as an essential component of the nation and national identity formation." (author's abstract)