Oil and Social Change in Niger and Chad

The project is designed as a follow-up to the project “Significations of Oil and Social Change in Niger and Chad” (2011-13). It carries the same title and aims at completing, supplementing, and further developing in empirical and theoretical scope the work and results of the first project phase. The project team has proposed to develop a distinctly anthropological perspective on the social transformations that can currently be observed in the newly emerging oil states of Africa. This distinctly anthropological perspective consists of four key elements of the research setup. First, a methodological focus on real-time observation of social situations and events as they unfold during the early phase of the formation of an oil state and its industry; therefore the choice of Niger and Chad as young African oil states; second, a theoretical focus on processes of social and political interaction between various social categories and groups through which order and significations are produced; third an equally theoretical focus on the core concepts of the PP (notably signification, creativity, translation adaptation, (dis-)order, and technology) that help to bring into field of view hitherto less noticed phenomena and processes related to oil; fourth an organisational focus on collaboration and close exchange of the German research team (from three institutes of Africa-oriented anthropology) with partners from France, Niger and Chad. An explicit focus lies on promoting young African and German scholars.