Aïdas Sanogo: Land tenure and public infrastructure in West Africa

Ataya: HUMA Interdisciplinary Seminar Series

Speaker: Aïdas Sanogo, Centre Universitaire de Manga, Burkina Faso.

Paper ►

Bio: Aïdas Sanogo is a senior lecturer in Social Anthropology, at the Centre Universitaire de Manga, Burkina Faso. Rooted in the fields of political and urban anthropology, drawing on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, her current research project looks into the intertwined links between urban dwellers’ discourses and practices related to land tenure in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire and Kumasi, Ghana.

Topic: Through actors-oriented lenses and using land conflict as an analysis entry point, the paper looks into the various tensions opposing between the state and populations whose livelihoods are directly impacted by airports’ building. Several land conflicts are linked to the airport of the city of Bouaké, located in the center of Côte d’Ivoire. Built on a parcel of common law belonging to several village communities, the land rights of this public equipment are today subject to various disputes. Our analysis reveals that the main causes of the land disputes are articulated around the shortcomings of the negotiations for the acquisition of parcels from village communities, coupled with urban expansion of the city of Bouaké. The Blaise Diagne International Airport in Senegal on the other hand is a stake of a massive urban explosion of the capital city Dakar. Based on ethnographical fieldwork data, we analyse the action of the different stakeholders that are struggling with different interests and perspectives for access to land in the area of Keur Moussa. This case study is an appropriate issue of reflection on what is empirically going on in terms of bureaucratic practices rused by the state and how local people respond to them.

How Ataya works: One presenter and their work – in exchange with the audience. Each Ataya session engages with selected work by the presenter (a text, artwork, performance, even food). The presenter introduces their work and grounds the subsequent discussion with the participants. For best engagement, we recommend participants to view the work (made available in advance on our website) before the session.