Senegalese democracy is considered exemplary by foreign observers and by a large section of the African intelligentsia, which is under siege from multifaceted forms of state terrorism. Given the democratic demands currently shaking Africa, it is tempting to view Senegal as a model. And yet, for a large majority of Senegalese, more and better democracy has become the central demand that mobilize…
Record crowds at the “holy places” of Senegalese Islam in Tivaouane and Touba, the creation of cultural associations, “fundamentalist” Arab schools, and the appearance of “integrist” magazines—events related to Muslim affairs in Senegal have unfolded at an astonishing pace in recent years. Some believe they have detected in this spectacular rise of Islamic activism traces of an…