21

In this interview, historian Solofo Randrianja explores the complex dynamics between anchoring, nationality, and citizenship in contemporary Madagascar. The interview focuses on the controversy surrounding President Andry Rajoelina’s dual nationality. This controversy reveals the tensions between two notions of belonging: the local tanindrazana, which indicates ancestral ties to a particular place in Madagascar and the Tanindrazana in the sense of a national homeland. Randrianja explains that for the majority of Malagasy, their ancestral land continues to determine their social and ethnic identity.