Peacekeeping’s conflict urbanism: a decade of urban change in Mali

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since the deployment of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), host communities have witnessed not only significant levels militarization but also continuous conflict. Noticeably, national-level politics and specific urban issues mix and manifest especially around MINUSMA’s physical presence. The ensuing protest and violence challenge the UN mission to consider its immediate and long-term imprint on the place of intervention and the urbanism it produces. How does peacekeeping contribute to the destruction and production of urban space? What kind of urbanism does, and should, a peacekeeping mission foster? Based on a qualitative analysis, this article considers violent contestation in the context of MINUSMA, focusing on incidents in Kidal, Gao, and Mopti. It suggests ‘conflict urbanism’ as conceptual framing to analyse the characters of urban contestation in the presence of peace operations and to signal the necessity to sustain some forms of contestation as part of Mali’s peacebuilding efforts.