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Legal Innovation and Social Change in a Peasant Community: A Senegalese Village Police

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2012

Francis G. Snyder
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Extract

Many strategies of rural development in Africa propose greater reliance on local institutions (Girard 1963; Seibel and Massing 1974; The World Bank 1975: 33–40; Tall 1976). Sometimes these proposals are primarily political rhetoric (Migot-Adholle 1970; Cliffe 1970); but they may, on the contrary, genuinely take account of rural social organization and history (Hamer 1967; Magid 1972; 1976: 154-69). Despite their merits, such proposals often fail to consider sufficiently the changing social and economic bases of rural institutions. One factor which deserves more emphasis is the dependence of rural dwellers on wider economic forces. As producers of cash crops, purchasers of imported goods, and suppliers of wage labour, rural Africans are integrated into the national and ultimately international economy. Integration and dependence are facilitated and encouraged by numerous government policies. Peasants are increasingly drawn to the cities by the symbiotic, subordinate relation of rural villages to the urban capitalist export sector, whose interests require a supply of cheap labour (Amin 1974a; 1974b; Meillassoux 1975; Seidman 1974) and predominate in the making of policy. The consequent dislocation and disintegration of rural communities limit severely the possibilities of delegating new tasks to existing rural institutions or of using them to decentralize authority, foster mass participation, or promote self-reliance.

Résumé

INNOVATION LÉGALE ET CHANGEMENT SOCIAL DANS UNE COMMUNAUTÉ PAYSANNE: UNE POLICE DE VILLAGE AU SÉNÉGAL

Les stratégies de développement rural qui prônent une dépendance accrue vis à vis des institutions locales en place, négligent souvent d'examiner de plus près les conséquences que pourrait avoir la dépendance rurale sur des forces économiques qui appartiennent à un cadre plus large. Cette étude de cas rapporte une tentative effectuée par des villageois sénégalais visant à inclure dans les fonctions de deux associations de jeunesse, la surveillance des animaux domestiques qui, par leurs déplacements, mettaient en danger la production alimentaire. Les victimes de cette action, se trouvant désavantagées sur le plan économique, protestèrent, menaçant les jeunes gens de faire appel à une puissante châsse réputée capable de faire périr les enfants. Représentant une menace grave pour les jeunes, cette châsse était aussi le symbole d'un conflit économique et d'un conflit de générations au sein du village. L'intégration du village à une économie de type capitaliste a transformé les schémas du manage et ceux des mouvements de la population. Ces transformations ont affaibli le contrôle qu'exerçaient les anciens sur les jeunes qui représentaient une main d'oeuvre tributaire et de futures épouses, entraînant ainsi une différenciation économique plus poussée; elles eurent aussi pour effet d'affaiblir la structure même des relations sociales et économiques qui étaient établies entre générations et qui représentaient le fondement de ces actions de surveillance. Celles-ci furent abandonnées car les anciens avaient retiré leur soutien.

L'échec de cette innovation montre bien qu'il faut, pour bien comprendre les institutions locales de l'Afrique, prendre en considération les effets qu'engendre au niveau rural le cadre économique et social dans son ensemble. D'autre part, on voit également qu'en province, certains efforts personnels ou certaines innovations institutionnelles risquent de s'avérer incompatibles avec une politique de développement national qui accroît la dépendance du milieu rural vis à vis du système économique capitaliste.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 48 , Issue 3 , July 1978 , pp. 231 - 247
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1978

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