Historical Memory Matters: Mobilizing the Past in the Boko Haram and Katiba Macina Conflicts

2025/12/01 by Jennifer Lofkrantz, Bréma Ely Dicko, Chitra Nagarajan · 1 voice
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #African history and culture analysis #Political Conflict and Governance #Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology

paper · doi:10.1017/asr.2025.10112

openalex publication_date 2025/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/12/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/11

Abstract

Abstract Both armed groups and civilians have evoked historical memory in the Katiba Macina and Boko Haram related conflicts. Although not a cause of the conflicts, historical memory informs the perceptions and choices of both fighters and civilians. Based on interviews with members of the armed groups and local civilians, the authors demonstrate that how an individual perceives their own positionality within society and how they perceive their ancestors’ positionality affects how that person reacted to the armed groups’ evocation of historical memory, how they interpreted the source of greater threat, and their own self-protection strategies.

Citations

• Why do pastoralists in Mali join jihadist groups? A political ecological explanation

Discussions

• Jennifer Lofkrantz, Bréma Ely Dicko, and Chitra Nagarajan examine how an individual’s perceived positionality affects their response to the evocation of historical memory in the Katiba Macina and Boko [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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