Description
Book SynopsisThis analysis of culture and nationalism in the Casamance—home of the longest-running conflict on the African continent—considers colonialism, cartography, agriculture, religion, forests, education, and sports history to explain and analyze the complex identities that have driven the separatist movement as well as the Senegalese nation.
Trade ReviewThe Casamance conflict has been the object of multiple books by scholars from diverse disciplines but Mark Deets’s book stands out as one the most insightful. Deets has performed a tour de force by carving out a unique niche in the crowded field of what one might call 'Casamance conflict studies.' Eschewing ethnicity, state centered, and elite driven approaches that inform most research on the Casamance rebellion, Deets zooms in on those he calls “ordinary casamançais” and their responses to the nationalist discourse of Western educated urbanized separatist leaders. Another strength of this book is its focus on space making and its exploration of the entanglement between place and nationalist imaginings, delineating conflicting mapping and counter-mapping of Casamance geographies that reflect clashing invented postcolonial identities.
A Country of Defiance is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the origins of the Casamance conflict. It’s a well-researched and accessible book that should figure prominently in the library of anybody interested in the postcolonial history of Senegal. -- Cheikh Anta Babou
