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“Ambivalent Cosmopolitans”? Senegalese and Malian Migrants in Johannesburg

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The Arts of Citizenship in African Cities

Part of the book series: Africa Connects ((AFC))

Abstract

It is shortly after 7 p.m. on a Saturday night. It is getting dark and the living room, the largest room on the ground floor of the house, is lit by the dimmed light of several energy-saving bulbs. A light brown carpet covers the floor, and someone has put a few armchairs and a canapé against the wall to leave a large open space in the middle of the room. A desktop computer, speakers, a DVD and CD player, a TV, and photographs are arranged on a shelf in addition to office equipment. The walls are decorated with text quotes in Arabic in small wooden frames, an Islamic calendar, and several family photographs. A few men chat and watch African music videos. The banging of the iron gate outside and the noise of cars in the courtyard announces the arrival of more visitors. The mostly young or middle-aged men cover the large open space in the center of the room with red, green, black, and gold-patterned shiny blankets and kneel in rows, facing several men in the first row. Four or five women and a few children enter the room. The women have covered their hair and wear dresses made from colorful Dutch wax-prints or single-colored, long, coat-like dresses with a final layer of a light material with laced or embroidered hems. They sit in the last row or in a corner of the room. The largest photograph on the wall shows a man wearing a white boubou and fez.

The title refers to Skrbis and Woodward (2007: 746). This chapter builds on fieldwork conducted within the framework of a larger project on “Transit migration in Africa” (MITRANS) funded by the French National Agency of Research (ANR). Earlier versions have been presented at the African Center for Migration and Society (ACMS) (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg), at the Konstanzer Meisterklasse 2010 (University of Konstanz), at the Art of Citizenship Conference (Columbia University, New York City), and at the Centre Marc Bloch (Berlin). I wish to thank all of those who have contributed with their comments to the final version of the chapter.

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  1. Christine Ludl
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Ludl, C. (2014). “Ambivalent Cosmopolitans”? Senegalese and Malian Migrants in Johannesburg. In: Diouf, M., Fredericks, R. (eds) The Arts of Citizenship in African Cities. Africa Connects. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137481887_11

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