Senegalese President Macky Sall has postponed the presidential elections originally scheduled for February 25. It’s part of a series of concerning moves by Sall to extend his stay in power. We talk with experts on the topic: Bamba Ndiaye and Michelle D. Gavin. Bamba Ndiaye is an assistant professor of African studies at Emory University’s Read More…
Tag: Senegal
Ep. 169: A conversation with Oumar Ba, Marame Gueye, and Bamba Ndiaye on Senegalese democracy
Today’s episode is a roundtable discussion with Rachel and guests Oumar Ba, Marame Gueye, and Bamba Ndiaye who shed light on the state of Senegalese politics and democracy. We discuss Senegalese president Macky Sall and his unwillingness to say whether or not he will run again, leading opposition politician Ousmane Sonko’s rape and defamation cases, Read More…
Ep. 160: A conversation with fellow Bamba Ndiaye and guests Sophia Denise Sow and Zachariah Mampilly about African activism
Fellow Bamba Ndiaye talks to two very exciting guests this week about political uprisings and social activism on the continent, from both activist and scholar perspectives. Sophia Denise Sow is a founding member of Senegal’s Y’en a Marremovement and Zachariah Mampilly, cofounder of the Program on African Social Research (PASIRI) and the Marxe Endowed Chair Read More…
Ep. 157: A conversation with Lauren Honig about land politics in Zambia and Senegal
Lauren Honig is an assistant professor of political science at Boston College whose work addresses questions of property rights, the roles of informal and customary institutions, natural resource politics, and state-citizen linkages. Lauren talks to Kim this week about her new book, Land Politics: How Customary Institutions Shape State Building in Zambia and Senegal. Plus, in Read More…
Ep. 111: A conversation between Kim and Rachel about the protests in Senegal
Kim and Rachel take a deep dive into the protests in Senegal, explaining everything you need to know about what’s happening and what it means. They also talk about the recent death of Tanzanian president, John Magufuli.
And in lieu of a guest, we feature our student essay competition winner, Hammed Kayode Alabi! Hammed is a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh studying Africa and international development. He reads for us his winning essay, called “#EndSARS Movement We Will Remember.”
Ep. 74: A conversation with Mandela Fellows from Zambia, Senegal, and Cameroon on mobile money’s challenges and opportunities
Ufahamu Africa is excited to launch its fourth season with a roundtable discussion about mobile money in Africa, its challenges, opportunities, and potential for social and political transformation. Co-host Rachel Beatty Riedl moderates the conversation with three Mandela Washington Fellows who participated in the Young African Leaders Initiative at Northwestern University earlier this year: Patton Kalunga of Zambia, Amadou Abdoulaye Sylla of Senegal, and Ngah Tse Ngah Benoit of Cameroon. Rachel and co-host Kim Dionne open the episode catching up on news in southern Africa, including protests in Malawi, xenophobic attacks in South Africa, and the death of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. They also talk about new research that listeners should check out and they share congratulatory messages for some of Ufahamu Africa’s earlier guests.
Ep. 73: (North American) summer is here!
As they celebrate the end of the academic year in North America — and their first as co-hosts — have a listen to Kim Yi Dionne and Rachel Beatty Riedl talk about what ideas they have in store for next season.
Ep. 71: A conversation with Erin Pettigrew on Muslim spiritual mediators, locally relevant research, and more
We begin this week’s episode announcing an exciting collaboration with The Monkey Cage to feature bonus content each Monday morning — a weekly reading of a book review from TMC’s African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular. The news we cover this week includes recent events in Sudan, Kehinde Wiley’s artist residency in Dakar, a nuclear project irradiating tsetse flies, and more.
Our featured conversation is with Erin Pettigrew, an assistant professor of History and Arab Crossroads Studies at NYU Abu Dhabi. Her research focuses on 19th and 20th century West Africa and histories of Islam, race, and healing in colonial and postcolonial contexts. Their conversation touches on how people deal with change over time, including practices involving the spiritual realm, which draws on what Erin learned in working on her exciting book project, To Invoke the Invisible: Islam, Spiritual Mediation, and Social Change in the Sahara. They also talk about Erin’s next book project on the history of a leftist political movement in Mauritania. Their conversation begins at 11:01.
Ep. 66: A conversation with Abdourahmane Seck on Islam, modernity, and more
We begin this week’s episode talking about Benin politics, a Malawian musician, the deployment of a malaria vaccine, a Russian company’s involvement in Sudan’s response to protesters, and the 25th anniversary of South Africa’s elections ending the Apartheid regime.This week we feature a conversation with Abdourahmane Seck, an anthropologist and historian at the Faculty of Civilizations, Religions, Arts and Communication at the Université Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Senegal. Dr. Seck is the author of several works on Islam and south-south migration. He is currently a visiting scholar in the Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa, part of the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University. His conversation begins at 15:13.
Ep. 59: A conversation with Matt Buehler on how governments spoil opposition alliances in North Africa
This week’s episode features a lot of discussion on North Africa. In the news wrap, we cover the protests in Algeria and Sudan (as well as election results in Senegal and Nigeria). Our featured conversation for this week’s episode is with Matt Buehler, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Tennessee and Global Security Fellow at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. Matt talks about his new book, Why Alliances Fail: Islamist and Leftist Coalitions in North Africa.
Ep. 56: A conversation with Dr. Anta Sané and Dr. Ndongo Symba Sylla about the Senegalese elections
This week’s episode opens with a conversation about increasing authoritarianism in Tanzania, the shutdown of an independent newspaper’s website in Uganda, fake news ahead of the Nigerian elections, and more. For this week’s conversation, Rachel spoke with Dr. Anta Sané and Dr. Ndongo Samba Sylla about the upcoming elections in Senegal.
Ep. 53: A conversation with Beth Whitaker on Africa’s international relations
This week’s episode begins with a discussion of protests and repression in Zimbabwe, the terror attack in Nairobi, Kenya, Senegal’s upcoming election, and the re-launch of the Africa Online Digital Library. Our guest this week is Beth Whitaker, an associate professor of political science at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Her research examines migration and security issues in Africa. We spoke with her about her new book, Africa’s International Relations: Balancing Domestic and Global Interests during the annual meeting of the African Studies Association in Atlanta, Georgia in November 2018. Some topics we cover include diaspora voting (especially in Kenya) and refugees. Our conversation begins at 10:25.