Paper details

Paper authors	Silvia Danielak
In panel on	The Politics of Humanitarian Urbanism
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

Three of Mali’s largest cities – Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu – have been object to the country’s Northern conflict; captured in 2012 by Tuareg rebels, then reclaimed by the Malian state and its allies, and presently featuring a heavy military presence. Since the establishment of the current United Nations stabilization mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in 2013, Malian cities have seen not only conflict-induced urbanization but a significant militarization. Foreign military ‘super camps’, exceeding the size of the initial cities, add layers of military infrastructure and urbanity. Despite its mission to stabilize the country, the very physical presence of the United Nations raises new questions about military urbanism and the physical imprint of peacekeeping. How does the UN’s military infrastructure physically connect to the community they seek to protect? How does it mediate urban mobility, proximity and distance in the context of protection and securitization? And, most pressingly: Do we have to reconsider the object and means of protection? Based on a spatio-temporal analysis of satellite imagery, UN incidents data, and key informant interviews, this paper traces the relationship between the military infrastructure and levels of conflict and opposition against the peacekeepers in the three cities. It suggests that new forms of urban contestation emerge in the peacekeeping context that require an expanded understanding of infrastructural violence.

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