Mariama Khan – författare

This book explores how precolonial political traditions and practices shape modern-day politics in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.The precolonial Kaabu empire dominated the region for over 300 years, leaving a rich oral and ritual culture that emphasized the importance of a ruler’s legitimacy among the general population. This book traces how postcolonial political administrations and Justice, Integrity and Truth (JIT) movements have mobilized to reclaim, reinvent and subvert traditional Kabunka norms of statecraft to prove their political legitimacy. It shows how cultural memory, oral arts and musical forms can be used to express ideals of leadership and followership and, in the process, create various conversations and debates about politics and society, social attitudes and morality. In doing so, the book captures how the latent but influential social and political practices from Kaabu are reclaimed, reproduced or subverted to contribute to the evolving nature of political rhetoric in these two countries.Whereas many studies of the state in Africa take Western democratic principles as a starting point, this book provides important evidence on the continuity of precolonial political culture along African’s west coast. It will be of interest to researchers studying politics, history and anthropology both within the region and elsewhere in Africa.

This book explores how precolonial political traditions and practices shape modern-day politics in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.The precolonial Kaabu empire dominated the region for over 300 years, leaving a rich oral and ritual culture that emphasized the importance of a ruler’s legitimacy among the general population. This book traces how postcolonial political administrations and Justice, Integrity and Truth (JIT) movements have mobilized to reclaim, reinvent and subvert traditional Kabunka norms of statecraft to prove their political legitimacy. It shows how cultural memory, oral arts and musical forms can be used to express ideals of leadership and followership and, in the process, create various conversations and debates about politics and society, social attitudes and morality. In doing so, the book captures how the latent but influential social and political practices from Kaabu are reclaimed, reproduced or subverted to contribute to the evolving nature of political rhetoric in these two countries.Whereas many studies of the state in Africa take Western democratic principles as a starting point, this book provides important evidence on the continuity of precolonial political culture along African’s west coast. It will be of interest to researchers studying politics, history and anthropology both within the region and elsewhere in Africa.

This book interrogates the validity of longstanding claims that Gambians and Senegalese are 'one' people in two countries and explores how that claim intersects with the politics and development needs of the two countries. Half a century after independence, proponents of Senegambian unification continue to campaign on the basis of the longstanding social, cultural and religious ties between Africa's smallest country, The Gambia, and Senegal, the much larger country which almost entirely encircles it. The border between the two former British and French colonies remains one of the starkest examples of colonial geographical bartering, and it continues to serve a dual function as a bridge and a barrier in the social, political and economic relations of the two countries. The book investigates how the two states are constantly pulled between impulses of cooperation and de-escalation, and a competitive intimacy that disregards kinship ties and re-activates tensions. In particular, the book shows how these interstate dynamics play out across the border itself, where indigenous ideas of relatedness are reflected in the cross-border transport and trade sectors, and in the religious networks that straddle the two countries.This book's skilful exploration of intersecting macro-level and micro-level relations in the Senegambia region will be of interest to scholars of African politics, regional studies, international development and border studies.

This book interrogates the validity of longstanding claims that Gambians and Senegalese are 'one' people in two countries and explores how that claim intersects with the politics and development needs of the two countries. Half a century after independence, proponents of Senegambian unification continue to campaign on the basis of the longstanding social, cultural and religious ties between Africa's smallest country, The Gambia, and Senegal, the much larger country which almost entirely encircles it. The border between the two former British and French colonies remains one of the starkest examples of colonial geographical bartering, and it continues to serve a dual function as a bridge and a barrier in the social, political and economic relations of the two countries. The book investigates how the two states are constantly pulled between impulses of cooperation and de-escalation, and a competitive intimacy that disregards kinship ties and re-activates tensions. In particular, the book shows how these interstate dynamics play out across the border itself, where indigenous ideas of relatedness are reflected in the cross-border transport and trade sectors, and in the religious networks that straddle the two countries.This book's skilful exploration of intersecting macro-level and micro-level relations in the Senegambia region will be of interest to scholars of African politics, regional studies, international development and border studies.