Open Access“Westernization” and the Politics of Islam in Senegal
Author(s) -
Tejas Parasher
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the agora
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1927-4793
DOI - 10.29173/agora17239
Subject(s) - politics , subversion , indigenous , emancipation , identity (music) , state (computer science) , sociology , gender studies , islam , assertion , argument (complex analysis) , postcolonialism (international relations) , westernization , political science , colonialism , independence (probability theory) , agency (philosophy) , social science , law , history , aesthetics , philosophy , modernization theory , mathematics , algorithm , ecology , chemistry , archaeology , computer science , biology , biochemistry , programming language , statistics
In much postcolonial theory, identity-politics is considered a means of subversion and possible emancipation. Consciously moving away from the political culture of the colonizer towards a rediscovery and reassertion of indigenous norms is seen as an important part of the larger postcolonial project of claiming political agency. This article problematizes this argument, and makes the case for a more critical analysis of the assertion of indigenous identity. The article turns to the work of one particular theorist—Ed van Hoven—and one particular case—Islamist politics in Senegal. Charting the development of politicized Islam since independence, it draws attention to how Senegalese governments have re-enacted the attitudes of the French colonial state.