The toll of two decades of democratic transitions in Africa may seem disappointing: civil wars, dictatorships and coupsing state continue to make the headlines. However, African and open African societies appropriate democratic forms, with their own language and practices, as Mamadou Diouf explains in this interview.
Senegalese historian, Mamadou Diouf directs the Institute for African Studies at the School of International and Public Affairs of the University of Columbia (New York).
During the forum “ Reinvent democracy “Organized by the Republic of Ideas in Grenoble on May 8, 9 and 10, he participated-with the anthropologist Jean-Pierre Dozon-at a round table on” Democratic experiences in Africa », Hosted by Philippe Bernard, journalist at World. The two stakeholders stressed that, to fully understand African political experiences, it was necessary to depart from the concepts and representations which inform the vision of democracy in Europe. Voting, often considered the democratic procedure par excellence, has been domesticated by certain African dictatorships, until it becomes a simple electoral ritual devoid of any potential of expression and protest for the peoples who use it.
But this domestication does not mean that there is no democratic expression. Mamadou Diouf and Jean-Pierre Dozon both draw the attention of listeners to the importance of the indigenization processes of democracy and politics at work in African societies. The second notably insisted on the role of religious movements, migrations and diasporas, and artistic productions in the enunciation of politics and the formatting of conflicts and social divisions.
The entire round table is available in podcast on the website of the MC2 And will soon be on the forum blog on the website of the Republic of ideas.
Interview carried out as part of the forum “ Reinvent democracy »In Grenoble on May 8, 9 and 10, 2009.
Video summary:
– Is vote a democratic tool or lure in Africa ?
– Are there examples where voting could be an effective claim for claims for African peoples ?
– What are the other ways of politicization and access to democracy in African countries ?
– What is the impact of demography on the forms of democracy in Africa ?
– What is the role of European countries such as France in the democratization process in Africa ?