ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the processes of bureaucratization and self-registration produced by the Koglweogo self-defence groups. It shows how they reappropriate institutional norms and practices in order to organize and legitimate their law enforcement activities. The production of their own means of identification, particularly membership cards, allows them to define and create a moral identity and thus to exclude ‘bad’ citizens from social space. It further serves as a means of seeking the state's recognition and legal validation.
