Researching Transborder Mobility and Institutions of Intermediary Rule in Southern Africa

This paper outlines the ongoing research project “Mobility and Institutions of Intermediary Rule in Southern Africa”, which is part of the DFG Research Unit “Transborder Mobility and Institutional Dynamics” (transMID). Our aim is to introduce the research questions, assumptions, and theoretical and methodological tools of this sub-project, as well as presenting some preliminary findings of our ongoing empirical research. The project investigates the interrelation between institutions of rule (in the sense of Weberian Herrschaft) and transborder mobility. What effects do forms of mobility, both new and old, have on the ways in which power translates into institutionalized rule? Which processes affecting the de-institutionalization of rule are associated with the transborder mobility of diverse actors? Vice versa, how do institutions of rule influence mobility patterns and the (im)mobilization of rulers and subjects? The research project focuses, first, on mobility in the Global South, particularly in Southern Africa, complemented by the tracing of mobility patterns to the Global North. Second, the focus is on institutions of intermediary rule, especially chieftaincy. We argue that, on the one hand, transborder mobility may function as a breeding ground for the rise of intermediary forms of rule, while, on the other hand, mobility represents a permanent challenge to the institutionalization of power. To achieve a better understanding of the interrelation between transborder mobility and the institutionalization or de-institutionalization of intermediary rule, the project examines the institutional dynamics connected with the mobility displayed by chiefs or chieftainesses and their subjects, and traces its conditions, trajectories, and implications in the institutional field of rule.