Election Watch: Senegal
Blog: International Republican Institute
Senegal is set to hold elections on March 24, 2024. Here's what you need to know.
The post Election Watch: Senegal appeared first on International Republican Institute.
Blog: International Republican Institute
Senegal is set to hold elections on March 24, 2024. Here's what you need to know.
The post Election Watch: Senegal appeared first on International Republican Institute.
In: Africa research bulletin. Political, social and cultural series, Band 61, Heft 2
ISSN: 1467-825X
In: Africa research bulletin. Economic, financial and technical series, Band 60, Heft 11
ISSN: 1467-6346
Blog: ROAPE
ROAPE's Rama Salla Dieng writes that the current political crisis in Senegal is neither a symptom of 'democracy dying in Africa' nor the country being 'on the brink' as some headlines from the western media would have it. On the contrary, Dieng argues, this illusion does not hold when one considers the country's political history stained by state and police brutality and human rights violations since independence.
The post Resisting state brutality in Senegal appeared first on ROAPE.
Blog: Global Voices
By unilaterally and without any legal basis ending the electoral process three weeks early, Macky Sall has plunged Senegal into an unprecedented institutional crisis
In: Monthly review: an independent socialist magazine, S. 53-57
As Pietro Daniel Omodeo observes in this review, "environmental politics cannot be separated from political decision-making." Using the example of the Senegal delta, as explored in Maura Benegiamo's La terra dentro il capitale, Omodeo shows that the neocolonial "Great Expropriation of the global commons" is underway in the Global South, with grim ecological and social consequences for those living in the delta.
In: Africa research bulletin. Political, social and cultural series, Band 61, Heft 1
ISSN: 1467-825X
In: Africa research bulletin. Political, social and cultural series, Band 61, Heft 2
ISSN: 1467-825X
In: Africa research bulletin. Political, social and cultural series, Band 60, Heft 12
ISSN: 1467-825X
In: African studies series 165
"Original and innovative, this book tells the story of Senegalese children freed from slavery in 1848 only to be relegated to tutelle or guardianship. Bernard Moitt demonstrates that tutelle allowed slavery to persist under another name, with children continuing to be subject to the same widespread labor exploitation and abuse"--
Blog: ROAPE
This series on state repression and police brutality in Senegal arrives as the nation transitions to a new presidency. The blog documents cases of torture, killings, and unlawful arrests suffered by political opponents and ordinary citizens in Senegal, providing clear evidence to the public of the abuses under the Macky Sall regime. ROAPE shares two pieces by journalist Moussa Ngom, which are introduced by Senegalese Scholar-activist Rama Salla Dieng and contextualised by activist Florian Bobin.
The post How to Get Away with Murder: State and Police Brutality in Senegal appeared first on ROAPE.
Blog: ROAPE
ROAPE's Leo Zeilig interviews researcher, writer and activist Florian Bobin on the deepening crisis in Senegal. Bobin describes the repression and bloodshed of the last few years, and the efforts to unseat the president. He analyses the potential for a radical left alternative emerging in the country, based on the "deep, systemic re-foundation" of society and its institutions. If this does not happen, Bobin argues, the ranks of the opposition once in power will have at their disposal the same powers that oppressed them.
The post Macky Sall's coup in Senegal: an interview with Florian Bobin appeared first on ROAPE.
Blog: Responsible Statecraft
Political outsider Bassirou Diomaye Faye will be officially declared the next president of Senegal Friday after cruising to victory in this week's elections just 10 days after being released from prison.Faye won 54% of the vote, allowing him to avoid a second round matchup with former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, the Dakar Court of Appeals announced Wednesday. Ba has conceded defeat and congratulated Faye, as has current President Macky Sall.Experts say the peaceful transition of power is a welcome indication of stability in Senegal and a positive sign for West Africa as a whole amid a string of coups that have rocked the region's relations with Western countries.Senegal's democracy, analysts say, came under threat last month after Sall made a controversial decision to postpone elections, citing corruption allegations against the Constitutional Council that decides which candidates are eligible to run in the elections, a fact he said would question the integrity of the results. The decision drew public outrage, as well as concern from the United States, a historically close diplomatic partner with Senegal. The U.S. State Department said last month that it was "deeply concerned" about the postponement in a statement urging Senegal's government to "move forward with its presidential election in accordance with the Constitution and electoral laws."It was the first time an election has been postponed in Senegal's history, and Sall's actions were "a jolt and a shock to the system" due to Senegal's long-held position as a stable democracy in West Africa, said Dr. Joseph Siegle, director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Senegal has historically promoted democratic norms, free speech, opposition party participation, and security in the region, Siegle said. It's a stark contrast to surrounding states in the region — military coups have destabilized the governments of neighboring Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea in recent years. Siegle said the recent election reiterates Senegal's role as an exemplar of democratic leadership in the region."Senegal provides a very important counterpoint that this is how you realize change. You do it through legal means, through constitutional means, through transparent means," Siegle said. The election was also a significant indication of the strength of Senegal's democratic institutions, as the judiciary promptly interpreted the constitution and rescheduled the elections in response to the postponement, said Adele Ravidà, senior election systems advisor and country director for Senegal at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. She added that, given that these events were unforeseen, the judiciary's actions created a precedent that increased its capabilities to respond to incidents of instability. "This was the strength of the judiciary in Senegal, the fact that even in a situation in which there is no law, that they can find a solution to the situation," Ravidà said.Faye's presidency could bring about further strengthening of Senegal's democratic institutions. Faye has campaigned on an anti-establishment platform, stating that he plans to reduce corruption in the government and strengthen checks on presidential power. Ravidà says it is still early to say what the potential of this new government is in fulfilling these claims. Siegle said Faye's policies may be cause for cautious optimism that democratic norms will be further bolstered. "That's encouraging, and given the strain to some of these norms we've seen in the last couple of years, that's welcome and would be much valued across Senegal," he said.Ravidà added that the election demonstrates the power of civil society in mobilizing to enact change."[The Senegalese people] are giving the chance now to this new generation of leaders to show if they can really rule the country well. But the population is mature enough to consider that if they are not doing well, in the next five years they give the opportunity to another party or a different leader." President Biden congratulated Faye for his victory in a statement on Wednesday. In a press conference on Monday, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said "the commitment of the Senegalese people to the democratic process is part of the foundation of our deep friendship and strong bilateral ties."Faye has iterated his intention to continue to maintain Senegal's bilateral partnerships with its diplomatic partners. The U.S. currently maintains close military ties with Senegal, Siegle told RS. The countries' militaries are partners in peacekeeping operations in the region, with the U.S. supplying aid and deploying troops to Senegal to help counter crises in the region.Faye will be officially declared the next president of Senegal on Friday, in the event that no complaint against the electoral process is filed by Thursday night, an event Ravidà says is not anticipated. The official transfer of power will take place on April 2, the day Sall's presidential mandate ends.
"This book comprehensively explores the messy and contested relationship between everyday practices of remittance sending and receiving, processes of market making, and operations of micro- and global finance. The book critically investigates a global migration-development agenda that aims to harness remittances for development by incorporating remittance flows and households into global financial circuits. The book develops a multidisciplinary perspective and combines insights from economic, development, and financial geography as well as international political economy and economic anthropology. It sets out a geographies of remittance marketisation approach to investigate the intricate and grounded ways in which remittance markets are constructed, the extent to which remittance flows and households can be (re)configured and incorporated into global finance, and why such processes are always fragile, contested, and in need of constant renegotiation. Drawing on extensive fieldwork research, the book provides an in-depth critical interrogation of the policies and initiatives that underpin remittance marketisation in Senegal, Ghana, and beyond. This volume will be especially useful to those researching and working in the areas of international development, contemporary geographies of finance and market making, and migration and remittances. It should also prove of interest to policymakers, practitioners, and activists concerned with the relation between migration, remittances, and finance in the Global South"--
In: The journal of development studies, S. 1-26
ISSN: 1743-9140