Category: A Decolonial Mediterranean – Disparities, Imaginations, Power Relations
On November 5–7, 2024, the conference “A Decolonial Mediterranean? Disparities, Imaginations, Power Relations,” organized by Esther Möller (Centre Marc Bloch Berlin), Rachid Ouaissa (University of Marburg/MECAM), and Benjamin Heidrich (University of Marburg/MECAM), and financed by the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM), took place in Tunis.
The aim of the conference was to discuss the Mediterranean as both a concrete space and a construct or imaginary, to analyze its representations, practices, and interactions, and to highlight the diversity within the Mediterranean space as well as the underlying power relations embedded in many of the discourses and practices linked to it. By contrasting the imperial age with contemporary history and politics, the conference critically examined the legacies of European colonialism in the states surrounding the maritime space, while also addressing divisions and the marginalization of voices not directly connected to European colonial histories.
To do justice to this spirit, the conference approached its theme from an interdisciplinary perspective. Scholars from literary studies, political science, (contemporary) history, anthropology, and cultural studies came together to discuss their current research in panels dedicated to “Narratives of Mobility and Inequality,” “Negotiating Governance,” “The Mediterranean as a Space of Mobility and Inequality,” “Dealing with Resources and Sustainabilities,” and “Decolonising Concepts of the Mediterranean.”
The panels were complemented by three keynote presentations, each offering a distinct perspective on the Mediterranean: “Décolonisation des villes et des écrits sur les villes en Méditerranée méridionale” by Mohamed Jerbi; “Solidarity against Empire: Revolutionary Paths and Ties across the Mediterranean and Black Sea” by Rim Naguib; and “De/colonizing the French Mediterranean: Algeria, Corsica and Occitania” by Manuel Borutta. In addition, the conference featured a roundtable discussion on “Décoloniser l’Éducation et le savoir sur la Méditerranée en Tunisie” moderated by Riadh Ben Khalifa.
As a first outcome of this conference, the presentations have been transformed into contributions for this blog series, offering academic reflections on the many facets of the Mediterranean in both present and past contexts.
This is an open blog series, and the editors welcome further contributions. If you are interested, please contact Diana Abbani (diab@trafo-berlin.de)
By Emile van Ommeren. Around the globe, countries are rethinking their food policy strategies in response to the increasingly uncertain geopolitical situation and climate change. Many countries have expressed their interests in improving their levels of food self-sufficiency– i.e., the extent to which a country can satisfy its food needs from its own domestic production. Rather than taking a state-level perspective, my goal is to understand the role and position of Tunisian farmers in the current debate about food and trade policy. Is there broad support among farmers for a shift towards policies that prioritize local agricultural production? Or are producers in Tunisia divided over the question of how higher levels of food security can be attained?
By Mustapha Majidi. Over the past two decades, several renewable energy strategies and initiatives have been launched in Europe, many of which focus on exploiting and importing the renewable energy potential of the South. This study critically examines the main disadvantages of renewable energy project partnerships in the region, focusing on Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, which represent key actors in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with ambitious and dynamic energy goals. It then analyses the structural imbalances in partnerships, arguing that cooperation in this sector remains largely tilted in favour of the North.
By Said Chemlal. In his film Io Capitano (I’m the Captain, 2022), Matteo Garrone inverts popular narratives about illegal immigration from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe, both Maghrebi and European. Unlike the common narratives, he brings to the fore the perspective of ‘illegal’ immigrants as individual subjectivities, who become active participants in the film themselves, rather than mere objects of the camera. The protagonists participate in weaving the narrative and, more importantly, (re)narrating their traumatic lived experiences; hence, they are given a voice to tell their stories.
By Rim Naguib. In January 1907, days of demonstrations swept through the streets and port of Alexandria and spread to Cairo. They had been provoked by the arrest of three migrant trade unionists from Odessa on accusations of intended sabotage on a Russian ship. Through this little-known event, much is revealed of the nature of colonial governance and the rule of difference. The event sheds light on the possibilities of a movement of anti-authoritarianism and solidarity that cuts across race, communal affiliations and social class, despite the colonial setting that fostered racial hierarchies and communalism, and where internationalist ideas and mobilisations were highly policed.
Clara-Auguste Süß in Conversation with Manuel Borutta. This conversation explores the historical interconnections, dependencies, and violence linking the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean and how those have shaped social, political, and economic structures on both sides. It touches on the history of Mediterranean studies, struggles of decolonization today, and the role of scholars in the progress. Lastly, it looks at “the Mediterranean” as an analytical category and its limitations.
By Hanan Natour. As part of this publication series on the decolonial Mediterranean, focusing on Tunisian literature serves as a gateway to creative engagements with the country’s significant geography. Tunisian literature links to the region in several directions — it is part of North African literature and modern Arabic literature. Grounded in the violent experience of colonialism, it also finds multiple ways of engaging with French literature from the other end of the Mediterranean Sea.
By Annamaria Bianco. In the late 1990s, the establishment of the border-free Schengen Area within the newly formed European Union was counterbalanced by sudden restrictions on the granting of visas to citizens of third countries. The novel Wadi Qandil (Wādī Qandīl), published in 2023 by the Spain-based writer and poet Nesrine Khoury, falls into the subcategory of “refugee futurism”. It contributes to the rewriting of the contemporary Mediterranean imaginary, proposing a heterotopic vision of this dual space at the time of the so-called migratory crisis.