Tolerance, Democracy, and Sufis in Senegal

Abstract

This volume, derived from a conference held at Columbia University in 2008, contains ten chapters written by some of the leading scholars on Senegal. The editor is Mamadou Diouf, professor of African studies and history at Columbia and the author of many books and articles on Senegal. Tolerance, Democracy, and Sufis in Senegal is a major addition to discussions on politics, religion, and social change in that country. Moreover, its value comes from the perspective it adds to discussions on the changing roles of Islam in politics in the Middle East and North and West Africa generally. This close look at the role of Sufi brotherhoods in Senegalese politics illustrates the importance of studying changing social and political networks, the structure of religious organizations, historical precedents, and the new waves of influence from outside the Muslim world to understand current political patterns. Senegal's current working balance between religious observance and secularism is not fixed or totally predictable. Nor is it, as some have claimed, uniquely Senegalese and thus not applicable to understanding the tension between religious values and democracy in other countries.