Public Lecture – Big Ideas for Democracy: Omar Gueye

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Democracy and resilience in Africa : Case study of Senegal

Abstract

Following the political and societal debates that have been taking place around the world since the 1960s, the project explores issues specific to Africa in the context of nation building, decolonisation and/or neocolonisation: underdevelopment and precariousness; socio-political changes; the Cold War and Pan-Africanism; the paradigm of the ‘Fathers of Nations’ and the project of the ‘Sons-Presidents’; the desire for societal change and the paradigm of a rebellious youth; social conflicts and the legacy of the May 1968 movement; political instability; the frequency of civil and military coups; constitutional reforms and controversial elections.

Through the case of Senegal, the study explores Africa’s political resilience in the face of democratic challenges, chronic political instability and recurring crises. It questions the so-called ‘Senegalese exception’, marked by early political and democratic practice, a tradition of elections and the mobilisation of avant-garde actors embodied by: reliable institutions; a republican army; dynamic political parties; committed citizens; an active civil society; and a mobilised youth. The reflection focuses on both the resilience and the future of a continent where people aspire to better democracy and well-being despite a context of uncertainty and continuous change.

Bio

Prof. Omar Gueye is a Professor of History at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar and a cultural consultant. He holds a Ph.D. in Modern and Contemporary History from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, a Ph.D. in Social History from the University of Amsterdam, and an MBA in Cultural Heritage Management from Senghor University in Alexandria. Omar GUEYE has gained diverse experience and participated in scientific exchange programs as a Fellow at Harvard University, Fulbright Fellow at the University of Michigan, Fernand Braudel Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence (EUI), Fellow at the Institut des Études Avancées in Paris (IEA), fellow at WIKO – Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Director of Studies-Associate at the Fondation-Maison-des-Sciences-de-l’Homme (FMSH) in Paris, and Visiting Professor at Sorbonne and the Sciences Po Paris. His research primarily focuses on questions of labor and social conflicts in post-war Senegal and French West Africa, and their sociopolitical implications in colonial and postcolonial States. He has authored several books and peer-reviewed book chapters. He is currently working on the legacy of the May 1968 global event in Senegal and Africa, the relationship between trade unionism and politics, and the odyssey of the African youth and women in the sixties and beyond.