Marseille and the (Im-)Mobilities of Black Maritime Workers in the African Mediterranean

“Marseille and the (Im-)Mobilities of Black Maritime Workers in the African Mediterranean” (MIBWAM) is an interdisciplinary and intersectoral project dedicated to illuminating Africa’s place in the global history of labour, port cities, colonialism and world oceans.

The objective of the research, under the supervision of Prof Xavier Daumalin (AMU/TELLEMe), is to uncover the intersections of docks and decks in the life of African maritime workers within the French empire, which subverts common narratives of early globalization as an age of borderless circulation.

The results will greatly impact the international debate on global social history.

Furthermore, from the vantage point of the (im-)mobilities of Black maritime workers in Marseille, the project conceptualizes a modern history of the “African Mediterranean” as a way of obtaining a more integrated view of the Mediterranean world.

This cutting-edge interdisciplinary endeavour can greatly advance the crucial transregional reconceptualization of areas studies.

Finally, MIBWAM seeks to engage a wide range of publics in reflection on the entanglements of Africa and the Mediterranean, which will both influence non-academic audiences and diversify my skills.

To achieve these objectives, MIBWAM adheres to a multi-methodological approach including archival research, and includes a research blog devoted to citizen science and involving a variety of participants.

An additional non-academic placement at MuCEM, a museum devoted to the Euro-Mediterranean world, is intended to revisit its representation of Africa, enriching its collections and databases destined to inform exhibitions.

MIBWAM will thus foreground the neglected topic of Africa’s relevance to the Mediterranean region in both the academic and museum sectors.

In accordance with the Horizon strategy, MIBWAM is committed to breaking new ground in interdisciplinary research and to helping forge an inclusive and historically aware European society.