Jesper Bjarnesen
Biographic Data
| ID | 88137 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jesper Bjarnesen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jesper |
| FAMILY NAME | Bjarnesen |
| SIGNATURE | BJARNESEN J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Nordic Africa Institute |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3114-4018 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 40 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Brothers in Arms? Vigilantism and Ambivalent State Responses in West Africa
Mediating Mobility in West Africa: Improvisation, Culture, and Volatility in Migration Infrastructures
How do migrants enact their mobilities in contexts where formalized labor migration is minimal, and where the European fight against irregular African migration is restricting the possibilities for informal border crossings? And which roles do cultural norms, social institutions, and individual agency play in facilitating migration? To answer these questions, this article offers a comparative reflection on the growing interest in the mediation of…
Soft Infrastructures: Mediating Labor Mobilities Across and Between Secondary Cities in West Africa
How are mobilities mediated in contexts where the movement of people has a long and central history, and how do we account for their gendered, generational, and classed differentiation? Through the concept of soft infrastructures, we suggest that the facilitation of regional labor mobilities in West Africa rely to a considerable extent not only on personal social networks, but on broadly shared cultural notions of friendship, solidarity, and occu…
The Power of Impending Zoning: Governance through Inaction in a Secondary City in Burkina Faso
A comprehensive zoning plan has been under way for more than a decade for an urban informal settlement in Bobo‐Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. In this article I explore the narratives and strategies of its residents in response to the impending restructuring, suggesting that the continual postponements of the zoning plan's implementation may be understood as constituting an elusive form of urban governance that relegates strategies of both resistance an…
Of Masks and Masculinities in Africa
Contemporary forms of precarity, migration, connectivity, and sociality have transformed what it means to be a man in many African communities. Responding with agency and creativity to various incentives and constraints, Africans have adapted practices pertaining to labour, marriage, and sexuality to the exigencies of modern life amid the impacts of European colonialism, rapid urban growth, economic hardship, and political conflict. Drawing upon …
Back in Youth: Social Unbecoming in the Study of West African Masculinities
African youth became a central research theme in anthropology and related disciplines in the early 2000s, drawing renewed attention to the lives and aspirations of a segment of the continent's population that, since the independence era, has become increasingly demographically dominant but socially and politically marginalised. Reflecting on an extended case study of male ex-combatants in urban Burkina Faso, this paper offers a critical reading o…
The politics of urban displacement and emplacement in Overcome Heights: A reply to ‘Surviving in Overcome Heights: living in and alongside crisis in Cape Town’ by Steffen Bo Jensen and Nanna Schneider…
The politics of urban displacement and emplacement in Overcome Heights: a reply to ‘Surviving in Overcome Heights: living in and alongside crisis in Cape Town’ by Steffen Bo Jensen and Nanna Schneidermann" published on Sep 2022 by Bristol University Press
Citizenship Matters: Explorations into the Citizen-State Relationship in Africa
Citizenship is a universal legal concept and norm. But its meaning and impact differ. Its codification and implementation are shaped by historical trajectories, political systems and state/government relations with members of society. State policy affects perceptions of citizenship and civic behaviour by those governed. This paper engages with current challenges relating to citizenship in Africa South of the Sahara. It centres on academic and pol…
Invisibility in African Displacements: From Structural Marginalization to Strategies of Avoidance
African migrants have become increasingly demonised in public debate and political rhetoric. There is much speculation about the incentives and trajectories of Africans on the move, and often these speculations are implicitly or overtly geared towards discouraging and policing their movements. What is rarely understood or scrutinised however, are the intricate ways in which African migrants are marginalised and excluded from public discourse; not…
Conclusion: Beyond democracy and Big Man politics
The geography of violence in Burundi’s 2015 elections
Alpes, Maybritt Jill. 2017. Brokering high‐risk migration and illegality in West Africa. Abroad at any cost. London/New York: Routledge. 234 pp. Hb.: £110. ISBN: 9781472441119
Maybritt Jill Alpes. 2017. Brokering high‐risk migration and illegality in West Africa. Abroad at any cost. London/New York: Routledge. 234 pp. Hb.: £110. ISBN: 9781472441119
Violence in African Elections: Between Democracy and Big Man Politics
Multiparty elections have become the bellwether by which all democracies are judged, and the spread of these systems across Africa has been widely hailed as a sign of the continent's progress towards stability and prosperity. But such elections bring their own challenges, particularly the often intense internecine violence following disputed results
Introduction Urban kinship: The micro-politics of proximity and relatedness in African cities
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Between Labor Migration and Forced Displacement
The significant number of involuntary returns of labor migrants to Burkina Faso is a relatively neglected aspect of the armed conflict in Côte d'Ivoire. Between 500,000 and 1 million Burkinabe migrants were forced to leave Côte d'Ivoire between 2000 and 2007, placing tremendous pressure on local communities in Burkina Faso to receive and integrate these mass arrivals, and causing those returning labor migrants an acute sense of displacement. Th i…
The ambivalence of neighbourhood in urban Burkina Faso
In the informal settlement of Sarfalao, in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso in south-western Burkina Faso, relations between newcomers and long-term residents in the neighbourhood were strained by the competition for living space and the opportunities to build a livelihood in the city. These tensions followed the involuntary return of large numbers of Burkinabe migrant workers from Côte d'Ivoire in the period 2000–2007 in particular, due to the civil w…
Diaspora at Home? Wartime Mobilities in the Burkina Faso-Côte d'Ivoire Transnational Space: Thèse de Doctorat (PhD), Uppsala University (Suède), Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, 2013
In the period 1999-2007, more than half a million Burkinabe returned to Burkina Faso due to the persecution of immigrant labourers in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. Ultranationalist debates about the criteria for Ivorian citizenship had intensified during the 1990s and led to the scapegoating of immigrants in a political rhetoric centred on notions of autochthony and xenophobia. Having been actively encouraged to immigrate by the Ivorian state for g…
A Mobile Life Story Tracing Hopefulness in the Life and Dreams of a Young Ivorian Migrant
The analysis suggests an adaptation of the life history interview as a method in qualitative migration studies. By joining four analytical concepts into an overall methodological framework, the mobile life story is intended to guide the exploration of the subjective experiences of migrants at various stages of a migrant trajectory. The notion of ‘mobility’ evokes a holistic orientation in the study of migrant biographies; the unpredictability tha…
Violence in African Elections: Between Democracy and Big Man Politics
Multiparty elections have become the bellwether by which all democracies are judged, and the spread of these systems across Africa has been widely hailed as a sign of the continent's progress towards stability and prosperity. But such elections bring their own challenges, particularly the often intense internecine violence following disputed results
Introduction Urban kinship: The micro-politics of proximity and relatedness in African cities
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button
The ambivalence of neighbourhood in urban Burkina Faso
In the informal settlement of Sarfalao, in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso in south-western Burkina Faso, relations between newcomers and long-term residents in the neighbourhood were strained by the competition for living space and the opportunities to build a livelihood in the city. These tensions followed the involuntary return of large numbers of Burkinabe migrant workers from Côte d'Ivoire in the period 2000–2007 in particular, due to the civil w…
Citizenship Matters: Explorations into the Citizen-State Relationship in Africa
Citizenship is a universal legal concept and norm. But its meaning and impact differ. Its codification and implementation are shaped by historical trajectories, political systems and state/government relations with members of society. State policy affects perceptions of citizenship and civic behaviour by those governed. This paper engages with current challenges relating to citizenship in Africa South of the Sahara. It centres on academic and pol…
Between Labor Migration and Forced Displacement
The significant number of involuntary returns of labor migrants to Burkina Faso is a relatively neglected aspect of the armed conflict in Côte d'Ivoire. Between 500,000 and 1 million Burkinabe migrants were forced to leave Côte d'Ivoire between 2000 and 2007, placing tremendous pressure on local communities in Burkina Faso to receive and integrate these mass arrivals, and causing those returning labor migrants an acute sense of displacement. Th i…
Mediating Mobility in West Africa: Improvisation, Culture, and Volatility in Migration Infrastructures
How do migrants enact their mobilities in contexts where formalized labor migration is minimal, and where the European fight against irregular African migration is restricting the possibilities for informal border crossings? And which roles do cultural norms, social institutions, and individual agency play in facilitating migration? To answer these questions, this article offers a comparative reflection on the growing interest in the mediation of…
Back in Youth: Social Unbecoming in the Study of West African Masculinities
African youth became a central research theme in anthropology and related disciplines in the early 2000s, drawing renewed attention to the lives and aspirations of a segment of the continent's population that, since the independence era, has become increasingly demographically dominant but socially and politically marginalised. Reflecting on an extended case study of male ex-combatants in urban Burkina Faso, this paper offers a critical reading o…
A Mobile Life Story Tracing Hopefulness in the Life and Dreams of a Young Ivorian Migrant
The analysis suggests an adaptation of the life history interview as a method in qualitative migration studies. By joining four analytical concepts into an overall methodological framework, the mobile life story is intended to guide the exploration of the subjective experiences of migrants at various stages of a migrant trajectory. The notion of ‘mobility’ evokes a holistic orientation in the study of migrant biographies; the unpredictability tha…
Diaspora at Home? Wartime Mobilities in the Burkina Faso-Côte d'Ivoire Transnational Space: Thèse de Doctorat (PhD), Uppsala University (Suède), Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, 2013
In the period 1999-2007, more than half a million Burkinabe returned to Burkina Faso due to the persecution of immigrant labourers in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. Ultranationalist debates about the criteria for Ivorian citizenship had intensified during the 1990s and led to the scapegoating of immigrants in a political rhetoric centred on notions of autochthony and xenophobia. Having been actively encouraged to immigrate by the Ivorian state for g…
The ambivalence of neighbourhood in urban Burkina Faso
In the informal settlement of Sarfalao, in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso in south-western Burkina Faso, relations between newcomers and long-term residents in the neighbourhood were strained by the competition for living space and the opportunities to build a livelihood in the city. These tensions followed the involuntary return of large numbers of Burkinabe migrant workers from Côte d'Ivoire in the period 2000–2007 in particular, due to the civil w…
Between Labor Migration and Forced Displacement
The significant number of involuntary returns of labor migrants to Burkina Faso is a relatively neglected aspect of the armed conflict in Côte d'Ivoire. Between 500,000 and 1 million Burkinabe migrants were forced to leave Côte d'Ivoire between 2000 and 2007, placing tremendous pressure on local communities in Burkina Faso to receive and integrate these mass arrivals, and causing those returning labor migrants an acute sense of displacement. Th i…
Conclusion: Beyond democracy and Big Man politics
The geography of violence in Burundi’s 2015 elections
Alpes, Maybritt Jill. 2017. Brokering high‐risk migration and illegality in West Africa. Abroad at any cost. London/New York: Routledge. 234 pp. Hb.: £110. ISBN: 9781472441119
Maybritt Jill Alpes. 2017. Brokering high‐risk migration and illegality in West Africa. Abroad at any cost. London/New York: Routledge. 234 pp. Hb.: £110. ISBN: 9781472441119
Violence in African Elections: Between Democracy and Big Man Politics
Multiparty elections have become the bellwether by which all democracies are judged, and the spread of these systems across Africa has been widely hailed as a sign of the continent's progress towards stability and prosperity. But such elections bring their own challenges, particularly the often intense internecine violence following disputed results
Introduction Urban kinship: The micro-politics of proximity and relatedness in African cities
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Invisibility in African Displacements: From Structural Marginalization to Strategies of Avoidance
African migrants have become increasingly demonised in public debate and political rhetoric. There is much speculation about the incentives and trajectories of Africans on the move, and often these speculations are implicitly or overtly geared towards discouraging and policing their movements. What is rarely understood or scrutinised however, are the intricate ways in which African migrants are marginalised and excluded from public discourse; not…
The politics of urban displacement and emplacement in Overcome Heights: A reply to ‘Surviving in Overcome Heights: living in and alongside crisis in Cape Town’ by Steffen Bo Jensen and Nanna Schneider…
The politics of urban displacement and emplacement in Overcome Heights: a reply to ‘Surviving in Overcome Heights: living in and alongside crisis in Cape Town’ by Steffen Bo Jensen and Nanna Schneidermann" published on Sep 2022 by Bristol University Press
Citizenship Matters: Explorations into the Citizen-State Relationship in Africa
Citizenship is a universal legal concept and norm. But its meaning and impact differ. Its codification and implementation are shaped by historical trajectories, political systems and state/government relations with members of society. State policy affects perceptions of citizenship and civic behaviour by those governed. This paper engages with current challenges relating to citizenship in Africa South of the Sahara. It centres on academic and pol…
The Power of Impending Zoning: Governance through Inaction in a Secondary City in Burkina Faso
A comprehensive zoning plan has been under way for more than a decade for an urban informal settlement in Bobo‐Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. In this article I explore the narratives and strategies of its residents in response to the impending restructuring, suggesting that the continual postponements of the zoning plan's implementation may be understood as constituting an elusive form of urban governance that relegates strategies of both resistance an…
Of Masks and Masculinities in Africa
Contemporary forms of precarity, migration, connectivity, and sociality have transformed what it means to be a man in many African communities. Responding with agency and creativity to various incentives and constraints, Africans have adapted practices pertaining to labour, marriage, and sexuality to the exigencies of modern life amid the impacts of European colonialism, rapid urban growth, economic hardship, and political conflict. Drawing upon …
Back in Youth: Social Unbecoming in the Study of West African Masculinities
African youth became a central research theme in anthropology and related disciplines in the early 2000s, drawing renewed attention to the lives and aspirations of a segment of the continent's population that, since the independence era, has become increasingly demographically dominant but socially and politically marginalised. Reflecting on an extended case study of male ex-combatants in urban Burkina Faso, this paper offers a critical reading o…
Brothers in Arms? Vigilantism and Ambivalent State Responses in West Africa
Mediating Mobility in West Africa: Improvisation, Culture, and Volatility in Migration Infrastructures
How do migrants enact their mobilities in contexts where formalized labor migration is minimal, and where the European fight against irregular African migration is restricting the possibilities for informal border crossings? And which roles do cultural norms, social institutions, and individual agency play in facilitating migration? To answer these questions, this article offers a comparative reflection on the growing interest in the mediation of…
Soft Infrastructures: Mediating Labor Mobilities Across and Between Secondary Cities in West Africa
How are mobilities mediated in contexts where the movement of people has a long and central history, and how do we account for their gendered, generational, and classed differentiation? Through the concept of soft infrastructures, we suggest that the facilitation of regional labor mobilities in West Africa rely to a considerable extent not only on personal social networks, but on broadly shared cultural notions of friendship, solidarity, and occu…
Political science (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Political economy (8 works) · Politics (8 works) · Geography (7 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Migration and Labor Dynamics (5 works)