Burkina Faso seen from below

The Forum for Africa Studies is leading commissioned research in collaboration with the long-standing partner the Institut des Sciences des Sociétés (INSS) in Burkina Faso. The research is funded by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency through the Embassy of Sweden in Burkina Faso. Annual studies are conducted on strategic themes of importance to Swedish development cooperation in Ouagadougou and its Burkinabe partners.

The background to the project is grounded in a study conducted on Burkinabe Sociopolitical Transformations 2014-2016. That collective anthropological study - published both in French and in English - demonstrated the importance of analysing social change and national politics from below, from the perceptions and perspectives of oridnary citizens far from decision-making and media outlets.   

In 2018, the focus was on security from below and citizen perceptions and perspectives on security and safety challenges. A team of eight anthropologists did fieldwork including project leaders Prof. Sten Hagberg and Associate Prof. Ludovic Kibora. The report was presented to researchers and stakeholders in Ouagadougou on 12 December 2018. A book entitled Sécurité par le bas: Perceptions et perspectives citoyennes des défis de sécurité au Burkina Faso was published in December 2019. The English version Security from below in Burkina Faso was published - with a long epilogue by Sten Hagberg and Ludovic Kibora - in May 2023.

In 2019, the annual study focused on women leadership and decentralisation. Fieldwork was carried in a dozen of municipalities between March and June 2019 with a team of eight anthropologists. The draft report was presented in a workshop in Ouagadougou on 9 January 2020. The book on the combat of women leadership was published in January 2021 (see below). The book is available online here

In June 2022, the project was formally ended with a workshop on engaged research and societal challenges, simultaneously celebrating 25 years of research collaboration between INSS and the Dept. of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at Uppsala University. In May 2023, however, the publication of Security from below in Burkina Faso marked a brilliant end.

The annual studies have been published in the series Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies.

 

Security from below in Burkina Faso (2023) is the expanded English version of the 2019 book. To access the book, click on the link

 

Welcome to our workshop on engaged research and societal challenges, 23 June 9-15 in Ouaga. More info, clikc on the image.

 

Focus group discussion in June 2018 in the Sambonaye village of Dori municipality.

 

Focus group discussions with female students at the Nazi BONI University, Bobo-Dioulasso, as part of the study Women Leadership and Decentralisation in Burkina Faso.

 

Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies. Open Access. Always. Everywhere. And for Everyone. More info click on the image.

 

 

The 23 June 2022 workshop on engaged research and societal challenges marked the end of the programme Burkina Faso seen from below. The workshop also celebrated 25 years of research collaboration between INSS and Uppsala University. Despite the end of the programme, perspectives are indeed promising...

 

The report on Women Leadership and Decentralization in Burkina Faso was presented at a workshop in Ouagadougou on 9 January 2020. Left to right: Oumar Sanogo (CNRST), Sten Hagberg (UU), and Mia Rimby (Embassy of Sweden).

 

The research team for the study of women leadership and decentralization in Burkina Faso. The photo was taken at the Nounoumoa Federation transforming sheabutter, Léo, August 2019.

 

The report on security from below was presented in December 2018: Sten Hagberg (Forum for Africa Studies), Susanna Hughes (Embassy of Sweden), and Ludovic Kibora (Institut des Sciences des Sociétés

 

The field research team "Security from below", October 2018

 

The pedestrian/bicycle/motorbike bridge in the village of Essakane, Dori municipality, Burkina Faso.

 

The book on WOMEN LEADERSHIP IN BURKINA FASO was published in 2021. Acces the study by clicking on the image.

 

The book on Security from below in Burkina Faso (french version) was published in 2019. Access the book, click on the image

 

NOTHING WILL BE AS BEFORE (2018). More info, click on the image

 

TRANSFORMATIONS SOCIOPOLITIQUES BURKINABE DE 2014 A 2016. More info, click on the image