Senegal has a history as the center of the West African slave trade. Today, Dakar is the capital and center of international black culture. Senegalese culture is characterized by family-centered kinship structures and mystical Sufi Islam being the dominant religion. A research project in a northern Senegalese village focused on identifying sustainable development needs through topics like agriculture, fishing, gender, and sociocultural issues. The research results suggested strengthening youth leadership, combining Franco-Islamic education models, and revitalizing traditions through a cultural center.
1. Senegal: Elements of History and Culture, and Research on Sustainable Development Research by Rachel Signer from summer 2010
2. Elements of Senegalese History Some background: Senegal was the center of the West African slave trade Dakar, the capital city, was the capital of French West Africa (the colonial territory) Dakar is now a bustling city and center of international black and African culture, arts, politics, education
3. Food Meals served family-style, sitting on the floor, eaten with hands, mother breaks up fish or meat and distributes according to hierarchy
4. Religion Mystical Islam, or Sufism, is the main religion in Senegal, with a small Christian minority
5. Religion, cont. Koranic education typical for many Senegalese Islamic culture gives power to men Prayer 5 times per day Fasting during month of Ramadan Beliefs about how to be a good person (ethics) Sufism characterized by tolerance, openness toward other belief systems
6. Religion, cont. Religion creates important social ties; society is divided into Sufi Brotherhoods
8. Kinship Family is cornerstone of society; mothers govern the home and fathers are responsible for working to support family
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10. Development issues in Senegal Rural-urban divide; urban capital very developed while rural areas have little Lack of trustworthy infrastructure (electrical outages on regular basis, water shortages) Serious agricultural problems as small farmers cannot produce enough to support themselves and large farms don’t really exist; thus a poor, rural country must import food Malaria is prevalent High youth unemployment Corruption and debt problems in national government
11. Research in northern Senegalese village Needs-assessment: What does this community need in order to improve their collective quality of life? Divided up into research teams, focusing on specific topics: agriculture, fishing, herding, environment, gender, social/cultural, etc.
12. Research, cont. Sustainable development: defined as the ability of a community to maintain its own long-term progress, according to its needs and wishes (can outsiders really do this?) Methods: interviews, participant-observation
13. Research, cont. My group focused on the sociocultural needs: religion, social equality, leadership, music/arts, traditional culture
14. Results of research Community would benefit from strong youth leadership (but this might be antithetical to culture that reveres elders) Franco-Islamic education model would be best due to importance of religion alongside need for Western (“formal”) education Traditional recipes and agriculture should be revitalized to promote health Cultural Center should exist to help community preserve artistic traditions and create new ones
