The State Must Be Our Master of Fire: How Peasants Craft Culturally Sustainable Development in Senegal

WhatsApp Channel Join Now
Telegram Channel Join Now

The State Must Be Our Master of Fire: How Peasants Craft Culturally Sustainable Development in Senegal
Price: $34.95
(as of Sep 27, 2025 07:40:04 UTC – Details)

Over several centuries, the Serer of the Siin region of Senegal developed a complex system of land tenure that resulted in a stable rural society, productive agriculture, and a well-managed ecosystem. Dennis Galvan tells the story of what happened when French colonial rulers, and later the government of the newly independent Senegal, imposed new systems of land tenure and cultivation on the Serer of Siin. Galvan’s book is a painstaking and skillful autopsy of ruinous Western-style “rational” economic development policy forced upon a fragile, yet self-sustaining, society. It is also a disquieting demonstration of the general folly of such an approach and an attempt to articulate a better, more sensitive, and ultimately more productive model for change―a model Galvan calls “institutional syncretism.”
Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of California Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 17, 2004
Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0520235916
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0520235915
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 0.84 x 8.9 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #4,104,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #611 in African History (Books) #620 in Real Estate (Books) #3,515 in African Politics
Customer Reviews: 3.0 3.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top