Nomads and Nation-Building in the Western Sahara

Fabled for more than three thousand years as fierce warrior-nomads and cameleers dominating the western Trans-Saharan caravan trade today the Sahrawi are admired as soldier-statesmen and refugee-diplomats. This is a proud nomadic people uniquely championing human rights and international law for self-determination of their ancient heartlands: the western Sahara Desert in North Africa. Konstantina Isidoros provides a rich ethnographic portrait of this unique desert society''s life in one of Earth''s most extreme ecosystems. Her extensive anthropological research conducted over nine years illuminates an Arab-Berber Muslim society in which men wear full face veils and are matrifocused toward women who are the property-holders of tent households forming powerful matrilocal coalitions. Isidoros offers new analytical insights on gender relations strategic tribe-to-state symbiosis and the tactical formation of ''tent-cities''.The book sheds light on the indigenous principles of social organisation - the centrality of women male veiling and milk-kinship - bringing positive feminist perspectives on how the Sahrawi have innovatively reconfigured their tribal nomadic pastoral society into globalising citizen-nomads constructing their nascent nation-state. This is essential reading for those interested in anthropology politics war and nationalism gender relations postcolonialism international development humanitarian regimes refugee studies and the experience of nomadic communities.