Connectivity and its Discontents: The Sahara – Second Face of the Mediterranean?

Abstract

This paper argues that the Sahara can be approached as a region following Horden and Purcell’s (2000) suggestions for the Mediterranean. Or at least, that this is true in economic and ecological terms. Internally, however, Saharan connectivity tends to be expressed in terms of genealogies, kinship and alliance, which implies moral evaluation of a kind that Horden and Purcell’s model is less able to capture. This becomes especially apparent with regard to the classification of Saharan settlements. From an ecological point of view, it might be meaningless to describe them as either towns or villages. From a moral point of view and in terms of self-definition, however, their classification matters greatly, in practical as much as representational terms. Moral aspirations emerge as an integral part of human ecologies.