Hesitant geographies of power: The materiality of colonial rule in the Siin (Senegal), 1850–1960

Abstract

This essay draws on archival and archaeological sources to examine historical matters of power in the Siin province (Senegal) and their inscription in village landscapes. It focuses specifically on the entanglements of the longue durée binding Siin’s Serer peasantry and the ‘colonial state’. Building on the work of Michel Foucault, the article suggests that historical archaeology is in a prime position to study the construction of colonial rule in African settings, and to shed light on the workings, logics, and ambiguities of state power on imperial margins. Going beyond arguments of domination and resistance, it seeks to examine the intended and unexpected effects of colonial government, how it transformed the lifeworlds of rural Africans while creating conditions for the emergence of new modes of social action.