Protests Against Large-Scale Land Acquisitions, Electoral Democracy, and Rural Citizenship in Senegal

PI: Marie Gagné, Postdoctoral Researcher, Concordia University

Grant Amount and Grant Fund: $2,500, Second Century Fund

Project Abstract: In Senegal, large-scale land acquisitions for agriculture and biofuel production have increased dramatically in the last two decades. Because these projects often encroach on populations’ farmland and pastures, they can profoundly disrupt rural livelihoods. In response, aggrieved communities have frequently organized opposition campaigns to prevent the seizure of their land, most of which is managed by elected municipal councils. Citizens have in many cases ousted municipal councilors with a record of poor land governance. But in others, incumbent candidates have been re-elected despite widespread opposition to land deals. My research seeks to explain this intriguing variation through a combination of statistical analysis and qualitative interviews. More broadly, it aims to understand the expectations that rural citizens have toward their elected officials and measure whether contested land deals lead to party turnover at the local level. Fieldwork in Senegal will provide critical insights on the democratic aspirations that citizens have in terms of land governance.

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