Territory, Power and Politics at a Frontier in Central Benin

This book is about a frontier zone that has emerged in central Benin in the wake of rapidly growing internal migration and the settlement of farmers and herders. It provides an interpretative framework for the multiscale dimension of territoriality that helps us to understand the multi-dimensional nature of frontier-making and offers empirical evidence of the everyday and mundane practices of producing sovereign power in contested territories. It highlights key insights into how local and national politics are linked to land tenure systems in a frontier zone. A multi-sited qualitative research study has been applied, using narrative interviews, group discussions, participant observation as well as cartography. The author is a political geographer and is interested in human-environment relationships and social and institutional change in Sub-Saharan Africa.