Teraanga Republic: Women’s Authority and Politics in Senegal

In Teraanga Republic, Emily Jenan Riley unveils the importance of women’s patronage politics in a Muslim-majority Senegal expressed through teraanga--a pivotal concept in the Wolof language referencing hospitality, generosity, and honor. Riley challenges perceptions of governance, gender and politics, authority, and religion on a global scale, revealing the interconnectedness of republican, Indigenous, and Islamic ways of enacting politics. Teraanga Republic delves into how the women who fought for equal political representation have transformed their private expressions of teraanga and piety into public governance strategies.

This rich ethnography provides an intimate look at the lives and careers of several prominent Senegalese women politicians--including a former prime minister, a justice minister, and parliamentarians--who make up one of the highest numbers of women in elected politics in the world. These women politicians derive their authority in state politics by seamlessly blending public political gestures with private acts of belonging and reciprocity, challenging the borders between state and private forms of governance and wealth distribution. In turn, their female patrons benefit socially and economically by creating solidarity groups, microenterprises, and associations with women political leaders.

Bringing readers into the lived spaces of Senegalese politics, Teraanga Republic demonstrates that with the emergence of a new elite class of women politicians also comes new considerations for what women envision for themselves and their communities.

Emily Jenan Riley is an Assistant Professor and Researcher in the Center for Asian and African Studies at El Colegio de México. She holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology and lives in Mexico City.