Politicians of the Sacred Grove: Citizenship and Ethnicity in Southern Senegal

Abstract

This article examines the traditional initiation of the former Senegalese Minister of Agriculture. At the age of fifty-five the Catholic Minister was initiated into the secrets of the sacred grove and thus acquired the status of adult man. The article demonstrates that Jola ethnic discourse, in which male initiation has become an important symbol, forced the Minister to enter the grove. His initiation turned him into a full member of the Jola ethnic group and qualified him as a trustworhty man capable of representing the people. In the campaign of the Socialist Party internal elections the Minister's initiation nevertheless became a major issue. The electorate did not show unswerving loyalty to ‘their’ Minister and nominated a non-initiate. The electorate suddenly changed their standards of apt political representation. The article contributes to the contemporary debate on citizenship and primary patriotism by showing that the Senegalese easily shift their position from subject to citizen, and thus empower themselves vis-à-vis elusive politicians. It also shows that politicians penetrate Jola practices of secrecy and thereby further the Jola's integration into the national public sphere.

INTEGRATING STRANGERS: Sherbro Identity and The Politics of Reciprocity along the Sierra Leonean Coast

“…What should be kept secret, by whom, from whom, how and why is part of the social fabric, and changes with new power relations and challenges within local communities. Ritual performances linked to initiation societies now appear to be a mechanism that allows people to absorb external forces and negotiate 'modernity' -including rapid urbanization and its deregulatory effects on community life -in local terms ( de Jong 2007;Ferme 1994). 4 In line with those authors, my research demonstrates the plasticity of initiation societies that, despite the local trope of decline, find social interstices in which to deploy their ritual force.…”

“…The possibility to preserve Poro depends on members' ability to navigate its ambivalent status as an emblem of autochthony and as an institution that can adapt to 'modernity' (see de Jong 2007) and help members to appropriate a changing political context. These interlaced meanings emerge as members discuss different strategies related to tourism.…”

“…13. In his study of the initiation of politicians in Jola society, de Jong (2002) notes that initiation is a way to 'appropriate' national politicians, hold them accountable to local communities and access the public sphere.…”

Displacement in Casamance, Senegal: lessons (hopefully) learned, 2000–2019

“…Some had been displaced sensu stricto from their rural homes by the conflict while others were already in the town as earlier migrants for reasons of work or education. Defining some people as IDPs is also difficult in this context because over the years rural-urban migration has moved from a circular pattern towards more permanent settlement in towns and cities (de Jong 1997;Lambert 2002).…”

Patterns and perspectives shape perceptions: Epistemological and methodological reflections on the study of small-scale multilingualism

“…A closer look at settlement patterns through history and on their consequences on language use and language territorialisation reveals that heterogeneity and multilingualism have existed in the area throughout history. Historians and anthropologists are unanimous in describing the Upper Guinea Coast where the Casamance is located as an area in which adaptation, assimilation, migration and (gendered) mobility have been and remain the source for heterogeneous settlements in Frontier societies (Baum, 1999;de Jong, 2010;Green, 2012;Hawthorne, 2003;Mark, 1985;Van der Klie & de Jong, 1995). Similar observations hold for West Africa more generally (Green, 2019;Lentz, 2013), and African Frontier societies are places in constant flux because of self-perpetuating settlement processes perceiving them as empty and ready for being claimed (i.e., as new Frontiers), described by Kopytoff as follows:…”