Bluffing the State: Spatialities of Contested Statehood in the Abkhazian-Georgian Conflict

Abstract

When travelling through the immense desert of northern Mali in July 2014, one might have run into a small flag, a flag evidently self-made: a piece of hardboard, nailed on a stick and planted in bare land next to a dust road. To the outsider, the small flag might have looked fragile, defenceless, informal, temporary in the middle of the vast, empty space. To those who made and planted it, however, this was the proud evidence of the national flag of Azawad. To supporters of the National Liberation Movement of Azawad (Mouvement National pour la Libération de l’Azawad; MNLA), it marked the beginning of the territory of Azawad. It held authority and demanded respect. On 6 April 2012, the MNLA declared the unilateral independence of the state of Azawad, which consists of two-thirds of the northern part of Mali. Not recognized by any other country in the world, Azawad has been contested and fought over by multiple armed actors, each claiming and performing authority.