Time representations and practices: Interpreting the multiple temporalities of the Malian rebellions

By exploring Tuareg insurgencies in Mali, this paper will analyze the multiple imaginaries mobilized by the armed groups and the government. These insurgencies are often presented as cycles of violence caused by the lack of economic and political integration of the Tuareg in Mali. The contentious politics literature, through the macro, meso and micro levels of analysis and their dialectical implementation, can enlighten structural elements and trends. However, these explanations do not consider the different temporal representations and practices of the warring parties, despite a complex understanding of time with the inter-relations of long and medium-term structures and short-term processes. The interactionist paradigm can engage the multiplicity of the imaginaries but is not necessarily able to provide more than a descriptive portrait of the time representations. The history of rebellions in Mali is the result of the encounter of stories situated in different temporalities. Some of the Tuareg, like the noble clan of Ifoghas, are in a state of “interwar” (Debos, 2013). Others, like the Imghad, are trying to overcome the traditional hierarchy, defending the postcolonial political order. Simultaneously, the Malian state is encouraging and sharing both imaginaries. Thus, we propose, through the different time representations and practices of the warring parties, to go beyond a linear historical causality of the events and beyond the inter-relations between structural and short-term contexts framed by the contentious politics literature. Indeed, the multiple temporalities are not only a question of long-term or short-term processes but are also a question of the existence of different temporal representations and practices co-existing in the same contexts. The exploration of the lived experiences of the actors, inspired by the interactionist paradigm, can help us to identify the time representations and practices. Thus, through the exploration of the dimension of time, we are going to engage a discussion between the contentious politics literature and the interactionist paradigm.