This text is translated from Norwegian with GPT UiO.
Tor Arve Benjaminsen is a professor in environmental and development studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). He studied resource geography and landscape ecology at the University of Oslo, and has closely followed the West African country Mali for the past 38 years.
While many talk about desertification in Mali, Benjaminsen noted in his lecture that large areas that were once threatened by desertification are much greener today than they were 38 years ago.
– The approach many in the West have had towards Mali lacks cultural and historical understanding of the country and its people, says Benjaminsen. In his lecture, he argued that knowledge of political ecology and farmer uprisings from the 1970s can help explain today's armed conflicts.
Since 2012, so-called "jihadist" groups have gradually taken control over large areas of Mali. Additionally, this violent uprising against the state has gradually spread to other countries in the Sahel and West Africa.
Micropolitics has been overlooked
– The main academic approach to explaining the crisis has been dominated by international studies and political science. However, such an approach overlooks the micropolitics surrounding land and the motivations of farmers and nomads for joining this uprising, argues Benjaminsen.
While farmer uprisings in other parts of the world have been explained through inequalities and injustices related to land, this explanatory framework, originating from research on peasant revolts in the 1970s, is rarely used in African studies or in relation to the current crisis in the Sahel.
Benjaminsen is inspired by "old" neo-Marxist contributions and finds it useful to employ the analytical lens of "moral economy." This focuses on the values and ethics at stake among the farmers and nomads who decide to participate in uprisings. In the Tschudi lecture, he combines this approach with a materialist political ecology approach.
A key figure in political ecology
– Tor Arve Benjaminsen is a key figure in political ecology. I can't think of anyone who matches him, except perhaps in the USA, says Andrea Nightingale, professor at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography. She particularly highlights Benjaminsen’s interest in people's daily lives and his knowledge of the land and other resources.
– The fact that Tor Arve Benjaminsen has been committed to Mali and followed the country and its people for so many years makes his observations particularly interesting, says Nightingale.
Listen and watch the entire lecture: Tschudi Annual Lecture with Tor Arve Benjaminsen
Read personal interview in Khrono: Da forskeren fikk den dødelige sykdommen ALS, ble jobben ekstra viktig