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"Personal status, citizenship, and political representation in Senegal (1910-1939) "

French version

by Francesca Bruschi
Post - doctoral student
University of Pavia, Italy
Wednesday juin 21st, 2006 at 4pm, Warc

On Wednesday, June 21, Francesca Bruschi held a seminar at WARC entitled, "Personal status, citizenship, and political representation in Senegal (1910-1939)." During this captivating presentation, Bruschi, revisited the history of the Senegalese administration under French colonialization from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. With strong supporting arguments, Bruschi demonstrated that "the French colonial policy in A.O.F. (Afrique Occidentale Francaise) was consistently characterized by obvious contradictions concerning especially, but not only, the stability of the system of domination." The greatest contradiction, according to Bruschi, was that individual rights that were offered to the people were determined by each person's particular place of residence. Also, the colony of Senegal was subdivided in three administrative entities: communes (in which the French codes and laws were supposedly exercised in full), territories of direct administration (which were mixed communes), and the protectorate (which were entrusted to the indigenous chiefs). As a direct result of this distribution, there was difficulty in establishing coherent texts and laws to govern the colony and to define the rights and responsibilities of the administration. However, for Bruschi, this politico-legal nebula was not created by chance. Rather, Bruschi argued that the French administration's underlying goal in this approach was to deny the citizenship to the populations notwithstanding their place of residence and thus the mode and policy and legalities by which they were governed. Indeed, Bruschi's fieldwork revealed that even the inhabitants of the four communes (Dakar, Gorée, Rufisque and Saint-Louis) were never able to take full advantage of the rights they were actually offered as French citizens. If, thanks to the 1915-1916 citizenship laws passed under Deputy Blaise Diagne, these citizens could obtain the right to vote, the later developments, particularly after WWII, showed that these laws gave authority to the Métropole to settle a practical problem, i.e. to find soldiers ready for combat and, according to Blaise himself, to recruit potential voters. The abandonment of the concept of citizenship to the profit of assimilation and more particularly, the abandonment of assimilation for citizens assimilation for partnership, has revealed that the only objective of the French colonial policy was the defense and perpetuation of the French national interests.

In conclusion, there were no real citizens with full rights and privileges. Neither was there any genuine policy of integration. Bruschi's presentation was followed by thoughtful contributions from the Director of WARC, Prof Ousmane Sène, but also and particularly from a faculty in the Department of History specializing in the field, Prof Adrien Benga. Other contributions were made by the audience including interesting questions from Abdoulaye Niang (Warc) and others. WARC also emphasized the lively and valuable contribution made by researcher Bruschi to WARC during all the period of her research activity in the Senegalese Capital. She was warmly thanked by all including the Director, Prof Ousmane Sène, and Abdoulaye Niang.

Mrs Awa BA a researcher affiliated to Warc
and Warc Director Prof Ousmane Sène

Awa BA
Researcher-in-Residence, WARC