Islam in the academic sphere in senegal: the case of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (UCAD)

El Hadji Malick Sy Camara,Mamadou Bodian

doi:10.1007/s11562-016-0360-8

Abstract

This paper discusses the changing socio-cultural landscape at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD), Senegal. It shows how the growing influence of the religious phenomenon since the late 1970s has encouraged young students to develop an Islamic activism that tends to replace the revolutionary and secular traditions that had dominated the space since the founding of this Senegalese university in 1957. These transformations, which take the form of a “decomplexification” of religion and of a communitarisation of the academic sphere, are also a reflection of the ongoing transformations in Senegalese society marked by a citizenship in transition. This transition translates itself into a duality between a “national citizenship,” with a francophone and secular character, and a “cultural citizenship,” inspired by Islam and initially driven by an Arab-Islamic elite as it negotiates its place in the public and administrative spheres that have historically been dominated by francophone elites.

Highlights

The socio-cultural landscape at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD) is undergoing an unprecedented evolution
In the group of Sufi disciples we find the Dahira of Tijani Students (DET), Dahira of pupils and students followers of Baay Niass (DETBN), and the ‘Amicale des Elèves et Etudiants Layènes’ (AEL)
These two dynamics reflect the changes in the religious landscape in Senegal, itself characterised by strong demands for a cultural citizenship that can hold its own vis-à-vis a conception of national citizenship that is of francophone and secular orientation, and which does not give much room for Arabic speakers in public policy and administration

Summary

Introduction

The socio-cultural landscape at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD) is undergoing an unprecedented evolution. Cont Islam (2016) 10:379–398 revolutionary traditions of the student movement and challenge the secular nature of the academic sphere This change is all the more intriguing because, since its creation in 1957, the University of Dakar had been a place where revolutionary ideologies reigned without competition. These orientations are generally influenced by the political, economic and social context, and broadly fall into two categories: politico-ideological choices and corporatist approaches (see below) While the former choices have to some extent strengthened the protest activities of the student movement, the latter have precipitated its decline and contributed to the affirmation of Islam as the main source of cultural life within the university space

The ideological and political choices of the student movement

The corporatist approaches of the student movement

The university as a place of localised expression of social transformations

Findings

Conclusion