Côte d’Ivoire: Patriotism, ethnonationalism and other African modes of self-writing

One of the key elements in the political-military struggle that has wracked Côte d’Ivoire since 2002 has been the ‘young patriots’ — youthful supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo who claim to be struggling for the country’s ‘second independence’ from the former colonial power, France. Many of them conceive of their struggle not just as a political one but as a search for social affirmation. This article examines the politics of Ivorian ‘patriotic’ youth in the light of Achille Mbembe’s influential ideas on African modes of self-representation.