The Great Green Wall in Senegal: questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the Sahelian populations
In January 2021, the Great Green Wall Accelerator was announced at the third One Planet Summit in Paris. Based on the notion of acceleration developed by Harmut Rosa and using the idea of conflicting temporalities in the study of social-ecological systems, this article analyzes how the political wil...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Resilience Alliance
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Society |
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| Online Access: | https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol28/iss1/art31/ |
| _version_ | 1797853217881587712 |
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| author | Enguerran Macia Jeremy Allouche Moustapha Basimbé. Sagna Amadou Hamath. Diallo Gilles Boëtsch Aliou Guisse Pape Sarr Jean-Daniel Cesaro Priscilla Duboz |
| author_facet | Enguerran Macia Jeremy Allouche Moustapha Basimbé. Sagna Amadou Hamath. Diallo Gilles Boëtsch Aliou Guisse Pape Sarr Jean-Daniel Cesaro Priscilla Duboz |
| author_sort | Enguerran Macia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In January 2021, the Great Green Wall Accelerator was announced at the third One Planet Summit in Paris. Based on the notion of acceleration developed by Harmut Rosa and using the idea of conflicting temporalities in the study of social-ecological systems, this article analyzes how the political will to accelerate the Great Green Wall reveals power dynamics between Western and Sahelian countries. We put in tension this acceleration of the Great Green Wall with (1) temporalities with respect to nature and reforestation, and (2) temporalities of life among the Sahelian populations. Whereas our contribution is mostly theoretical, building on Hartmut Rosa’s work, we illustrate our approach in terms of political ecology and anthropology based on an empirical case study of the Ferlo region in Senegal, a key region with respect to the Great Green Wall initiative. Our analysis shows that by controlling the temporality of the Great Green Wall program through this Accelerator, Western powers dominate the Sahelian states, making the Accelerator part of a neo-colonial approach. Moreover, the desire to accelerate the Great Green Wall with a massive investment in a short span of time corresponds to the perception of a nature made available, incompatible with the time of ecological restoration. Finally, the acceleration advocated by Western economic liberalism seems to be coming up against resistance of local populations rooted in an identity that values community solidarity, the stability of social structures, and closeness between humans, their herds, and nature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:46:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ef454e9374d7440d89479301673677cd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1708-3087 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:46:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-ef454e9374d7440d89479301673677cd2023-04-03T16:05:43ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872023-03-012813110.5751/ES-13937-28013113937The Great Green Wall in Senegal: questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the Sahelian populationsEnguerran Macia0Jeremy Allouche1Moustapha Basimbé. Sagna2Amadou Hamath. Diallo3Gilles Boëtsch4Aliou Guisse5Pape Sarr6Jean-Daniel Cesaro7Priscilla Duboz8IRL 3189 Environnement, Santé, Sociétés (CNRS/Université Cheikh Anta Diop/Université Gaston Berger/Université de Bamako/CNRST Burkina-Faso), Dakar, SénégalInstitute of Development Studies, Brighton, United KingdomIRL 3189 Environnement, Santé, Sociétés (CNRS/Université Cheikh Anta Diop/Université Gaston Berger/Université de Bamako/CNRST Burkina-Faso), Dakar, SénégalIRL 3189 Environnement, Santé, Sociétés (CNRS/Université Cheikh Anta Diop/Université Gaston Berger/Université de Bamako/CNRST Burkina-Faso), Dakar, SénégalIRL 3189 Environnement, Santé, Sociétés (CNRS/Université Cheikh Anta Diop/Université Gaston Berger/Université de Bamako/CNRST Burkina-Faso), Dakar, SénégalIRL 3189 Environnement, Santé, Sociétés (CNRS/Université Cheikh Anta Diop/Université Gaston Berger/Université de Bamako/CNRST Burkina-Faso), Dakar, SénégalAgence Nationale de la Grande Muraille Verte du SénégalCIRAD, UMR SELMET, Saint-Louis, SénégalIRL 3189 Environnement, Santé, Sociétés (CNRS/Université Cheikh Anta Diop/Université Gaston Berger/Université de Bamako/CNRST Burkina-Faso), Dakar, SénégalIn January 2021, the Great Green Wall Accelerator was announced at the third One Planet Summit in Paris. Based on the notion of acceleration developed by Harmut Rosa and using the idea of conflicting temporalities in the study of social-ecological systems, this article analyzes how the political will to accelerate the Great Green Wall reveals power dynamics between Western and Sahelian countries. We put in tension this acceleration of the Great Green Wall with (1) temporalities with respect to nature and reforestation, and (2) temporalities of life among the Sahelian populations. Whereas our contribution is mostly theoretical, building on Hartmut Rosa’s work, we illustrate our approach in terms of political ecology and anthropology based on an empirical case study of the Ferlo region in Senegal, a key region with respect to the Great Green Wall initiative. Our analysis shows that by controlling the temporality of the Great Green Wall program through this Accelerator, Western powers dominate the Sahelian states, making the Accelerator part of a neo-colonial approach. Moreover, the desire to accelerate the Great Green Wall with a massive investment in a short span of time corresponds to the perception of a nature made available, incompatible with the time of ecological restoration. Finally, the acceleration advocated by Western economic liberalism seems to be coming up against resistance of local populations rooted in an identity that values community solidarity, the stability of social structures, and closeness between humans, their herds, and nature.https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol28/iss1/art31/africaenvironmental humanitiesgreen projectinterdisciplinaritypolitical ecologysocial-ecological systems |
| spellingShingle | Enguerran Macia Jeremy Allouche Moustapha Basimbé. Sagna Amadou Hamath. Diallo Gilles Boëtsch Aliou Guisse Pape Sarr Jean-Daniel Cesaro Priscilla Duboz The Great Green Wall in Senegal: questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the Sahelian populations Ecology and Society africa environmental humanities green project interdisciplinarity political ecology social-ecological systems |
| title | The Great Green Wall in Senegal: questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the Sahelian populations |
| title_full | The Great Green Wall in Senegal: questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the Sahelian populations |
| title_fullStr | The Great Green Wall in Senegal: questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the Sahelian populations |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Great Green Wall in Senegal: questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the Sahelian populations |
| title_short | The Great Green Wall in Senegal: questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the Sahelian populations |
| title_sort | great green wall in senegal questioning the idea of acceleration through the conflicting temporalities of politics and nature among the sahelian populations |
| topic | africa environmental humanities green project interdisciplinarity political ecology social-ecological systems |
| url | https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol28/iss1/art31/ |
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