Smugglers And Saints Of The Sahara

Download or read book Smugglers and Saints of the Sahara written by Judith Scheele and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-30 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Smugglers and Saints of the Sahara describes life on and around the contemporary border between Algeria and Mali, exploring current developments in a broad historical and socioeconomic context. Basing her findings on long-term fieldwork with trading families, truckers, smugglers and scholars, Judith Scheele investigates the history of contemporary patterns of mobility from the late nineteenth century to the present. Through a careful analysis of family ties and local economic records, this book shows how long-standing mobility and interdependence have shaped not only local economies, but also notions of social hierarchy, morality and political legitimacy, creating patterns that endure today and that need to be taken into account in any empirically-grounded study of the region.