The volume is meant as a tribute to Georg Klute and his work. It focusses on four thematic fields which have been central for Georg Klute’s research: “politics and beside and beyond the state”, “legal pluralism”, “anthropology of violence and war”, “anthropology of work”, and “participant observation”. The book intends to trigger debate, discussion, and thus, further evolvement of Georg Klute’s scholarly œuvre. About the editors: Thomas Hüsken is an ethnologist who focusses on politics beside the state in North Africa and the Middle East. Alexander Solyga is an ethnologist, economist and development practitioner, currently working as Country Director for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Khartoum, Sudan. Dida Badi has worked since many years on the changes of socio-political structures of Tuareg populations of the Sahara and the Sahel (Algeria, Libya, Mali), adopting perspectives of cultural and historical anthropology. INHALT: Preface: Mentor, Companion, and Friend – A Few Words about this Volume Georg Klute’s Professional Career I. Beside the State: African Politics and Beyond Erdmute Alber: Heterogeneity and Heterarchy – Middle-Class Households in Benin Dida Badi: Les modalités d'appropriation et de transmission des biens et du pouvoir chez les Touaregs sédentaires du Tassili n Ajjer Birgit Embaló: Violent Extremism, Islam and Youth in Guinea-Bissau Mario Krämer: The Current Debate on Neotraditional Authority in South Africa – Notes on the Legitimacy and Rise of Intermediaries Judith Scheele: Heterarchy, Locality, Connectivity, Tribes – can (and should) we speak of a Shared Political Culture across the Sahara? Petr Skalník: War as a Decisive Factor in State Formation – War and Peace in Africa. Local Conflict and the Weak State Magnus Treiber: Projecting Modernity – A Leitmotif in Eritrea's Struggle for Independence II. Legal Pluralism and Conflict Dereje Feyissa: Conflicting rights? Cultural and Women’s Rights in the Context of Ethiopia’s Legal Pluralism Lamine Doumbia: De la périphérie au centre-ville – Un terrain d'anthropologie juridique et politique Meron Zeleke: The Ambiguous Relationship Between State and Non-State Actors in Dispute Settlement in Contemporary Ethiopia Dieter Neubert: Decentralised Conflicts, Heterarchy and the Limits of Conflict Regulation Amal S.M. Obeidi: Local Reconciliation in Libya since 2011 – Actors, Processes, and Mechanisms III. The Anthropology of Work Isaie Dougnon: Coping with Age and Work – The Young Graduates’ Movement for Public Service in Mali (1987-2002) Anja Fischer: Expert Women in Nomadism – A Case Study about the Expertise of Work among Kel Ahnet Nomads in the Algerian Sahara Desert Georg Materna: The “Touristic Laobé” of Senegal – The Commodification of Culture in African Arts, Inc. IV. The Merits of Participant Observation Baz Lecocq: On Detailed Fieldwork Observations and Primordial Histories of Pastoral Animal Husbandry – The Cattle Line from the Neolithic to Present Tilman Musch / Mahama Abaliyi Sedike: Un mariage par rapt chez les Toubou Teda – Transgresser pour conserver la paix sociale Hanna Lena Reich: Exploring the Night – Fieldwork Experiences from Nairobi V. Discourses Kurt Beck: On Claiming Non-Creativity, or: ‘The One who has no Guide, his Guide is the Devil’ Michael Hauhs: Temporalities of Conservation – Human-Environment Relationships in an African National Park Gerd Spittler: De quelles choses l’homme a-t-il besoin ? La culture matérielle des Touaregs Kel Ewey