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Disorderly Dakar: The cultural politics of household waste in Senegal's capital city*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2013

Rosalind Fredericks
Rosalind Fredericks*
Affiliation:
1 Washington Place, 6th Floor, The Gallatin School, New York University, New York, NY 10003
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

During the era of President Abdoulaye Wade, a household waste crisis periodically held the streets of Dakar in its noxious grip. This paper analyses the crisis in light of waste management's role as a fundamental urban public service, key employment sector, and visceral symbol of the city's management. It examines how the institutional landscape of waste management took centre stage in a power struggle within the state that centred on reconfiguring the labour of ordering the city. At the same time, it reveals how the waste-workers' union emerged as one of the most visible and savvy labour movements in contemporary Senegal. Through the creative disorder unleashed by intentional acts of dirtying, workers and residents alike forged new claims to the city. Conclusions are drawn for the wider implications of the disorderly city for the urban question in Dakar and the landscape of citizenship in Senegal's contemporary period.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 435 - 458
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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Footnotes

*

This paper is a slightly revised version of a paper first published in French under the title ‘Dakar en proie au chaos : politique et culture des ordures ménagères dans la capitale sénégalaise’ (Diouf & Fredericks 2013). It is reprinted with permission from the editors at Karthala. The paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork in Dakar primarily conducted between 2006–2008, with several follow-up visits between 2009 and 2012. The author is indebted to Ndeye Bineta Ndoye and Ndeye Sophie Coly for assistance with the transcription and translation of interviews conducted in Wolof or French. The author is grateful for feedback from Mamadou Diouf and from an anonymous reviewer. She would also like to thank those workers, officials and residents of Dakar who generously shared their points of view. Except for those union leaders who requested that their names be used, the names have been omitted to protect the respondents' identities. All French to English translation is provided by the author. Any mistakes that remain in the text are exclusively the author's responsibility.

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Interviews

Cissé, Mamadou Lakhassane, Director General of CADAK-CAR, CADAK-CAR offices, Dakar, 30.5.2007.

Diop, Mamadou, ex Mayor of Dakar, Diop law firm, Dakar, 17.7.2007.

HLM residents (1), HLM Fass, 16.5.2007.

HLM resident (2), HLM Fass, 27.8.2007.

Sall, Khalifa, Mayor of Dakar, Hotel de Ville, Dakar, 4.8.2011.

Sy, Madany, Secretary General of SNTN, SNTN headquarters, Dakar, 18.6.2012.