Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: An analysis of Islam in non-formal education in Senegal

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper provides a comparative analysis of the participatory research undertaken in Burundi, Malawi, Senegal & Uganda - from Burundi’s newly formed partnerships to Uganda’s long withstanding collaborations, Malawi’s unique engagement with the Ministry of Basic Education and Senegal’s gathering of local educators. It will examine how the partnerships were built, for what purpose, and how these will continue in the future.

The paper will highlight the rift between policy and practice in four countries. It will compare the strengthens and weaknesses of education and budgetary policies within a regional and international context, including the influence of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The paper will discuss the current state of primary education by comparing findings on learning achievement from a gender perspective. It will uncover the reasons behind low attainment and performance by examining (a) teaching and learning practices (b) threats to the teaching profession; (b) contributions of parents, students, teachers and communities are currently to school governance and children’s learning; and (c) new elements arrising from the research.

The paper will outline what needs to change, who needs to be involved and how in order to ensure that all children have their right to quality education fulfilled.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In Senegal, French is the official language (de jure) and Wolof is the de facto lingua franca. This paper suggests that the current Wolofization phenomenon (in which one does not have to belong to the Wolof ethnic group in order to speak Wolof as one's mother tongue) is symptomatic of Wolof agents co-opting the French technology of nationalism or Frenchification process (1891-1960) and promoting the Wolofization process during the colonial and post-independence periods. The phrase 'technology of nationalism' is a reference to how the french colonial state tried to create Black Frenchmen and Frenchwomen, nominally speakig, in Senegal's Four Communes (Saint-Louis, Dakar, Goree, and Rufisque). Does the current Wolofization phenomenon suggest that the Frenchification process (of converting Senegalese 'into Frenchmen') during the colonial period failed? During the French colonial period (1891-1960), the linkage between ethnicity and language, namely being Wolof and speaking the Wolof language, in an urban setting became more tenuous whereas in a rural setting the linkage becmae more intertwined. The Wolofization process as it related to the Wolof language and Wolof ethnicity was both an urbanesque and elite (vertically-based) phenomenon. This same process as it related to the Wolof language and one fo the Sufi brotherhoods (namely the Mouride brotherhood) became a more horizontally-based, rural peasentry phenomenon. However, on an intra-ethnic level, the Wolof ethnic membership became wed to or predetermined one's religious order membership in such a way that 'to be Wolof is necessarily to be Muslim.' What are the Pan-African implications fo the Wolofication (peasants into Senegalese) phenomenon?

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Most of the civil wars in sub-Saharan Africa have been attributed in one form or another to ethnicity. The general assumption is that ethnic division is directly related to social conflicts, civil wars and democratic breakdown. While scholars point out that conflict and breakdown are not determined by ethnicity per se, but rather the politicization of it, a crucial question remains: Under what conditions does ethnicity become politically salient? Conversely, what are the dominant constraints on ethnic politicization?

This paper seeks to address this question through research on Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, countries chosen because of the variation in the political salience of ethnicity despite an impressive number of social, economic, political, historical and demographic commonalities. The paper submits that the issue is as much about elite behavior as it is about the ethnic composition of a country. A huge part of the puzzle has to do with the dominant constraints and incentives provided by political institutions, which in effect determine the opportunity for political elites to make appeals on the basis of ethnic differences.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In Senegal, French is the official language and the Wolof language is the de facto lingua franca. Wolofization, the process of promoting Wolof as a first language among non-Wolof ethnic groups, is increasingly becoming a national phenomenon.