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The colour of destruction

On racialization, geno-globality and the social imaginary in Bissau

RCT, Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims, Denmark

Based on 18 months of fieldwork in Guinea-Bissau, this article sheds light on the social imaginary of urban youth in Bissau City. Set in a context of pervasive decline and destruction, the article shows how the social imaginary in Bissau has come to evolve around issues of race and conflict, and how this has led to an interpretative conflation of blackness and destruction. Through illuminating some of the modes of social differentiation that have emerged in relation to the impact of globalization, I argue that the difference between Self and Other, much commented upon in the discourse of politicized and territorialized culture, may very well be followed by a geno-global construction of identity that simultaneously (re)locates social difference within geo-political boundaries, race and genetics. Finally, the article dwells on the consequences of this process of racialization and argues for an analytical shift from narrative to the social imaginary if we wish to improve our understanding of the relationship between meaning and action.

Key Words: Bissau • conflict • geno-globality • horizons • racialization • social imaginary

Anthropological Theory, Vol. 6, No. 4, 481-500 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1463499606071598


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