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The Power of the Uniform: Paramilitary Foresters and Rangers at the W Park, Burkina Faso

  1. Journals
  2. Sociologus
  3. Vol. 63, Issue 1–2
  4. pp. 11–36

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Poppe, J. The Power of the Uniform: Paramilitary Foresters and Rangers at the W Park, Burkina Faso. Sociologus, 63(1–2), 11-36. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.63.1-2.11
Poppe, Julie "The Power of the Uniform: Paramilitary Foresters and Rangers at the W Park, Burkina Faso" Sociologus 63.1–2, 2013, 11-36. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.63.1-2.11
Poppe, Julie (2013): The Power of the Uniform: Paramilitary Foresters and Rangers at the W Park, Burkina Faso, in: Sociologus, vol. 63, iss. 1–2, 11-36, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.63.1-2.11
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The Power of the Uniform: Paramilitary Foresters and Rangers at the W Park, Burkina Faso

Poppe, Julie

Sociologus, Vol. 63 (2013), Iss. 1–2 : pp. 11–36

4 Citations (CrossRef)

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Article Details

Publisher Name
Duncker & Humblot
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.63.1-2.11
Language
English
Pages
26

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Individual
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Author Details

Julie Poppe, Institute for Anthropological Research in Africa, Faculty of Social Sciences, Catholic University of Leuven, Parkstraat 45, box 3615, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.

Cited By

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    Kairu, Anne | Upton, Caroline | Huxham, Mark | Kotut, Kiplagat | Mbeche, Robert | Kairo, James

    Society & Natural Resources, Vol. 31 (2018), Iss. 1 P.74

    https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2017.1382628 [Citations: 22]

  2. A failing anthropology of colonial failure: following a driver's uniform found at Amani research station, Tanzania

    Geissler, P. Wenzel

    Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 29 (2023), Iss. S1 P.167

    https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.13908 [Citations: 1]

  3. Dimensions and corollaries of violence in Zimbabwe’s protected forests

    Mushonga, Tafadzwa | Matose, Frank

    Geoforum, Vol. 117 (2020), Iss. P.216

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.10.005 [Citations: 6]

  4. Balancing professional autonomy and authority at the margins of a fragile state: Front-line health workers’ experiences in Burkina Faso

    Pare Toe, Lea | Samuelsen, Helle

    Global Public Health, Vol. 16 (2021), Iss. 7 P.1099

    https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1825768 [Citations: 1]

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Abstract

This article presents an anthropological analysis of the meanings of being a public servant, based on a case-study of the rangers' and foresters' actions, interactions and negotiations on the periphery of the W park in Burkina Faso. The analysis specifically focuses on the paramilitary uniform, worn by both rangers and foresters, as a stately identity marker. Rangers are not legally authorized to wear this uniform and its accessories, such as a gun, in contrast to the foresters who are official public servants in Burkina Faso. Their common stately identity, based on the wearing of a similar uniform and the displaying of the concordant paramilitary gestures and language, though blurs this distinction. In other words, the uniform feeds the ambiguity that underpins processes of statecraft. The uniform moreover enables both groups of stately agents to ensure the arrests of environmental offenders, and hence to obtain revenues, commodities, opportunities, esteem, work efficiency, and public authority, which stretch far beyond the stately realm. State-practices turn out to be imagined and construed as a byproduct of the residents' search for a meaningful living, in which one particularly looks for esteem.

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