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An Exploration of Senegal

Senegal, located in coastal West Africa, emerged from French colonial control in 1960 and charted a unique path in independent politics. In this paper, I will delve into the history of Senegal through 1991, starting with a brief overview of French control in Senegal, where residents enjoyed unique rights of participation and education among French West Africans. Then, I will examine the transition to independence in 1960, the rise of independent (and socialist) politics in the country, domestic and border crises, before finally exploring the saliency of ethnicity and caste in Senegalese politics.

Senegal occupied a special role in France’s colonial empire: the federal capital of French West Africa was established in Dakar, and Senegal was the only colony in black Africa where France applied assimilationist ideals (Clark and Phillips 1994, p. 9). That is, the ruling French viewed their culture as superior and believed that through education and integration colonial subjects could amount to full French citizens. The residents of the quatre communes (Dakar, Saint-Louis, Gorée and Rufisque) were awarded full citizenship rights and had far greater access to French resources than brethren in the countryside (p. 9). By 1914, urban African voters had elected a black deputy to the French Assembly, where he championed African rights with a French-oriented vision (p. 10). In the 1930s, socialism had found popular support – seen by the African élite of the communes as the antithesis of capitalism and colonial hardships – despite the ideology itself being a European import (p. 10). Léopold Sédar Senghor, a Francophone intellectual first nominated to represent rural Senegalese in a deputy’s seat, quickly mastered local “realpolitik” (p. 12). He capitalized on rural residents’ animosity toward the seats of power, forming his own political party: the Bloc Démocratique Sénégalais (p. 12). Senegal first entered independence in the late 1950s, as part of the Mali Federation with the former French Sudan – before divisions arose and Senegal declared its “unilateral” sovereignty in 1960 (p. 12).

The four-year development plan (1961-1964) propagated by Senegal’s first independent leaders – Senghor and Prime Minister Mamadou Dia – embodied African socialist idealism. Rejecting the compulsory labor element of Maoism and Leninism practiced elsewhere, Senghor’s socialism involved asking villagers what they wanted to work on and providinggovernment support to those ends (Crowder 1967, p. 123). Despite Senghor’s goal of distancing Senegal from the European “bourgeois” conception of land as personal property and illustrating socialism as akin to the “traditional” nature of black Africa, his plans faced several issues (p.123- 125). In 1963, the nascent country still relied on imported foodstuffs, depended on foreign aid and French involvement, and suffered under a bloated bureaucracy (p. 124-125). Clark and Phillips, writing thirty years later, add to this understanding of Senegal’s early troubles: they note the drought of 1966-1973, France’s 1967 abandonment of colonial price supports, the 1970s rise in oil prices, and worldwide inflation (p. 15).

In addition to economic issues, Senegal’s early independence politics were stagnant (though stable) after Senghor’s rise to power. The first two years were marked by an animated struggle between Senghor and Prime Minister Mamadou Dia, which resulted in Dia’s arrest and imprisonment (Clark and Phillips 1994, p. 12). In 1963 a new constitution established a strong presidential regime, and an election shortly thereafter gave Senghor an overwhelming majority (p. 14-15). In the ensuing decade and a half, Senegal was effectively a one-party state, with the Socialist Party in control as the only “viable” political entity (p. 15). During this time, however, a handful of student and far-left protests dotted the political landscape and laid the groundwork for the eventual opening of the country’s politics in the 1980s. In addition to the aforementioned economic discontent, in 1968 the Senghor administration announced a 50 percent reduction in academic grants, leading to a student strike and new revolutionary sentiments (Bianchini 2019, p. 188). State police stormed a university, carnage ensued, and trade unions held strikes in solidarity (p. 189). The incident left a mark on the young nation’s political psyche. By 1976, the National Democratic Rally was formed, largely to gather “all shades of the left,” and aimed towards cultural decolonization and activism directed at the rural masses (p. 194-195). Bianchini argues that the leftist struggles of 1968 weakened the “Senghorian regime,” leading to a decade of political redefinition by leftist groups and the decisive move in December 1980 by Senghor’s successor towards an unrestricted multi-party system (p. 195).

The 1980s saw domestic political liberalization, with new inclusion of political parties, but also hosted international challenges on the Senegal-Mauritania border. Senghor’s successor, Abdou Diouf, eventually allowed fourteen political parties to participate in elections (Meredith 2011, p. 271). In fact, Meredith notes that by 1989, elections throughout the African continent served almost exclusively to prop up authoritarian regimes and bolster the power of the (permanently) incumbent leader, save for Senegal, the Gambia and Botswana (p. 385-386). In 1988, Diouf received almost three quarters of the national vote, but mass rioting was sparked in the Senegalese capital due to public allegations of rigged ballots and electoral irregularities, including mass voter absenteeism (Clark and Phillips 1994, p. 15). Nevertheless, Meredith points out that Diouf continued to win elections throughout the nineties until his defeat in 2000 (p. 271).

Meanwhile, on the border of Senegal and Mauritania, desertification had been pushing nomadic Mauritanian Arab herders towards Senegalese black African farmers, leading to a clash in 1989 (Parker 1991, p. 155). A Mauritanian camel herd, grazing over the border in violation of law, sparked tensions (p. 159). The rapid escalation of violence between black Africans and nomadic Arabs led to international trade embargoes and climaxed in late April 1989, after the Mauritanian embassy in Dakar was attacked and, in turn, Senegalese were killed in Mauritania. The crisis ended with the transportation and repatriation of 245,000 people who had been living in the opposing country back to their place of origin (p. 160). The open press in Senegal contributed to the public opinion against Mauritanians, promoting the “rivalry” (p.164). Meanwhile, the internal forces which caused the initial clash forced each country’s régime to take a hard stance on the conflict to maintain public support (p. 163-164). The issue can be attributed to racial politics, with the largely Arab Mauritania’s goal of reducing black power and thus capitalizing on the crisis, while domestic Senegalese opposition leaders (many of whom hailed from the river region) criticized Diouf’s government for failing to protect indigenous Senegalese on the border and forced Dakar to toe the hard line against its neighbor (p. 161-162).

Notably, ethnicity has proven to be less salient within Senegal than along its borders. Writing within a decade of Senegalese sovereignty, Crowder notes that Senegalese society enjoyed an indigenous ethnic homogeneity unrelated to the French policy of assimilation, encouraged by a common adherence to Islam, wherein local religious leaders of one tribe had considerable influence over Muslims of other ethnic origins (Crowder 1967, 97-98). In addition to this indigenous unity, the erasure of local divisions through French influence further blended – though certainly did not do away with – ethnic division. Crowder chalked this blurring of ethnic groups up to the widescale education of Senegalese in mainland France: “...in France they found themselves automatically dubbed as Senegalese, for few Frenchmen had time for the niceties of tribal distinctions” (99). A common cuisine bridging ethnic groups from the Wolof, Serer, Toucouleur and Lebou further blended ethnic boundaries: for example, a national dish known as riz sénégalais appeared in heterogenous parts of the country, showing the infusion of national identity into traditionally ethnic customs such as food (p. 100-101). Meredith also suggests indirectly a precedent of ethnic and religious tolerance in politics started by Senghor. The first President, who was a Catholic in the predominantly Muslim country, became “adept” at building coalitions and forged links with Senegal’s rural Muslim religious leaders (p. 60). It appears that the leaders of Muslim rival sects in Senegal preferred a Catholic “indifferent” to Islamic divisions than a Muslim who would naturally be a partisan in such affairs (Crowder 1967, 107).

Meanwhile, tribal caste systems proved a more relevant facet of Senegalese society. Crowder notes a system of superior and inferior castes in his 1967 book, designating it as the “main problem of Senegal” (p. 110). By 1994, Clark and Phillips describe a changing reality in which caste poses influence but has been subdued by punitive laws. Most Senegambian ethnic groups had a caste system based primarily on specialization or occupation – families of griots, blacksmiths and other artisans were attached to individual noble families, as were slaves (85-86). After independence, it became illegal to refer to or discriminate against a person’s caste or slave origin (86). Though endogamy remains, people of all caste origins are generally accepted as Muslims, rarely give the “deferential kneeling salutation” and live and are interred alongsideother Senegalese regardless of caste (86-87). Caste, for the most part, was absent in the discussions of independence politics which I encountered, suggesting its diminishing importance.

This brief glance into the emergence of Senegalese independence, its politics and early leaders, notable historical conflicts and the relative importance of ethnicity and caste have shown a unique national history. Heavily associated with France before independence, Senegal became a stronghold of the European-educated African intelligentsia, a home for a new attempt of African socialism, and one of the few African nations which had instituted successful multi-party elections by the late 1980s.

Also check out my paper on Senegalese democracy since 1990! 

Works Cited

Bianchini, Pascal. “The 1968 years: revolutionary politics in Senegal.” Review of African Political Economy, vol. 46, no. 160, pp. 184-203. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

Clark, Andrew F. and Lucie Colvin Phillips. Historical dictionary of Senegal. Metuchen, N.J.and London, The Scarecrow Press, 1994.

Crowder, Michael. Senegal: A Study of French Assimilation Policy. Bungay, Suffolk, Oxford University Press, 1967.

Meredith, Martin. The Fate of Africa. New York, PublicAffairs, 2011.

Parker, Ron. “The Senegal-Mauritania Conflict of 1989: A Fragile Equilibrium.” The Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 29, no. 1, 1991, pp. 155–171. JSTOR, Accessed 2 Feb. 2021.