Poverty and the Struggle to Survive in the Fuuta Tooro Region Of
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What Development? Poverty and the Struggle to Survive in the Fuuta Tooro Region of Southern Mauritania Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Christopher Hemmig, M.A. Graduate Program in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Sabra Webber, Advisor Morgan Liu Katey Borland Copyright by Christopher T. Hemmig 2015 Abstract Like much of Subsaharan Africa, development has been an ever-present aspect to postcolonial life for the Halpulaar populations of the Fuuta Tooro region of southern Mauritania. With the collapse of locally historical modes of production by which the population formerly sustained itself, Fuuta communities recognize the need for change and adaptation to the different political, economic, social, and ecological circumstances in which they find themselves. Development has taken on a particular urgency as people look for effective strategies to adjust to new realities while maintaining their sense of cultural identity. Unfortunately, the initiatives, projects, and partnerships that have come to fruition through development have not been enough to bring improvements to the quality of life in the region. Fuuta communities find their capacity to develop hindered by three macro challenges: climate change, their marginalized status within the Mauritanian national community, and the region's unfavorable integration into the global economy by which the local markets act as backwaters that accumulate the detritus of global trade. Any headway that communities can make against any of these challenges tends to be swallowed up by the forces associated with the other challenges. The upshot is that Fuuta residents feel that life is getting worse instead of better, and there is a sense that their communities do not have a viable future. While they feel frustrated and abandoned by their own government and the international community, they cannot give up trying to ii survive and improve the quality of their lives. Fuuta communities remain ready to engage in partnerships through development, with the hope that partners be more willing to listen to the perspectives and expertise that local communities have accumulated through a half- century of development efforts. From their point of view, the institutional infrastructure of development needs to integrate itself with the grassroots to provide better support to local production, economic activity, and social services as communities struggle to overcome the challenges they face. To Fuuta communities, such an integration would embody their notion of communitarian solidarity (jokkere enɗam), which was the primary historical basis for the survival and flourishing of Halpulaar society in the difficult environment of the region. For the time being, development practices do not align with this ideal, while the international development community operates at a substantial remove from Fuuta populations. This work recommends that development organizations and scholars seriously engage the cultural dimension of local communities to better address the survival and livelihood concerns that arise from persistent underdevelopment. iii Dedication Dedicated to the Adama Moussa Diallo family of Seyenne Gababé and to the Brahim Ould Bilal Ramdhane family of Nouakchott. iv Acknowledgments I owe deep and sincere thanks to many individuals and organizations who have assisted, supported, and inspired me all along the way of this project. Without their encouragement, their advice, and their efforts, I would never have gotten started, let alone seen it through. First off, in Mauritania, many thanks and appreciation go to Abdul Majid Diallo, who worked with me tirelessly for six months of fieldwork travels and interview transcriptions. It is fair to say that I would have been completely lost without him. Thanks go as well to Brahim Ould Bilal Ramdhane and his family who hosted me at their Nouakchott home for the duration of my fieldwork, and who treated me as one of the family. Further thanks goes to Brahim's brother Rava, who provided lodging and transportation assistance during my stays in the Boghé area. Likewise, Ba Samba Sandigui and his family hosted me during my stays in Kaédi, while Ba Samba offered me valuable support and mentoring for my project. And for each njaatige who hosted me throughout my travels through the Fuuta, I am exceedingly grateful, and I hope for the chance for future meetings. Also, I give thanks to Melanie Thurber, Alassane Ba, and Delia Dunlap for their friendship and hospitality, and to Erin Pettigrew, who has provided advice, perspective, and moral support throughout the fieldwork and writing process, and has also reviewed portions of this manuscript. Special thanks go to Djeynaba Diya, my host mother from Seyenne, who continues to inspire me with her strength, warmth, and v generosity, even in the face of losing her husband, co-wife, and one of her young children. She is an outstanding role model to all who have the chance to know her. At Ohio State, I owe tremendous thanks to my advisor, Professor Sabra Webber, for her encouragement, mentoring, patience, enthusiasm, and insights that she has offered every step of the way. I would also like to thank Professors Morgan Liu, Katey Borland, and Dorothy Noyes for their advice and guidance throughout my graduate student career. Professor Danielle Fosler-Lussier provided helpful feedback and encouragement as the Graduate Faculty Representative on my dissertation defense committee. Thanks as well goes to my graduate student colleagues in the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department. Despite the diversity of our fields and interests, it has always been a positive and collegial environment for me. Also, I would like to acknowledge the support of the past and present staff of the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department. Further acknowledgment goes to the Institute for International Education, the American Insititute for Maghrib Studies, and the Mershon Center for International Security Studies for their financial support of my endeavors. I am exceedingly grateful to Bocar Dieng, who has been such a valuable source of friendship, with rich perspective and experience to share concerning development efforts in Mauritania. Thanks goes as well to Amadou Ndiaye and his assistance with translation. I also am grateful for the support and camraderie of Jane Mitsch throughout this past year of writing. I also wish to mention the close friends who have been a source of strength and encouragement over these past few years, including Alex Mcdougal Webber, Luke Nave, Matthew Marshall, Sarah Gange, Barry Burton, Joe Shaw, Andrew Culp, Mary Parks, Greta Stokes, Gabriel Piser, Brent Biglin, Brett Zehner, and Zach Henkel. And vi finally, tremendous thanks go to my parents, William and Donna, and for my sisters, Erin and Anna, for all they have done for me and all they continue to do. vii Vita May 1998....................................................... Manchester High School, North Manchester, Indiana 2002................................................................B.A. Biology, Wittenberg University 2002-2004...................................................... Peace Corps Volunteer, Mauritania 2009................................................................M.A. Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, The Ohio State University 2009 to present...............................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, The Ohio State University 2011-2012.......................................................Institute of International Education Fellowship, American Institute for Maghrib Studies Fellowship, Mershon Center Grant Publications 2012. “Abdelmajid Hannoum, Violent Modernity: France in Algeria, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010.” Review of Middle Eastern Studies, 46, 1, 109- 111. 2013. “Racial/ethnic politics and development in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.” Zaytoon, 1, 26-34. Fields of Study Major Field: Near Eastern Languages and Cultures viii Table of Contents Abstract................................................................................................................................ii Dedication...........................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgments................................................................................................................v Vita....................................................................................................................................viii List of Figures....................................................................................................................xii Chapter 1: Grassroots Perspectives and Conceptualizations of Development............1 Development and the grassroots: failure to connect........................................................9 Emic understandings of development and fieldwork methods......................................18 Postcolonial development in Mauritania: from neocolonialism to neoliberalism.........32 Macro challenges to Fuuta development and dissertation outline.................................50 Chapter 2: Halpulaar Society in the Fuuta Tooro: History and Culture....................61 A Thousand years of Fuuta history...............................................................................