User talk:CDB2003
Is the global South forgotten about when discussing the 1968 student uprisings?[edit]
I have chosen this topic as I believe in the power of the people and until now I haven't learnt much about African history and therefore I have chosen to combine two topics of interest, African history and politics. I have also done some digging and I have found some articles and news reports on the topic which are interesting which means I will enjoy writing my Wikipedia page on the student uprising in Senegal. Finally, I am a student so why wouldn't I want to know what people just like me fought for?
Is the global South forgotten about when discussing the 1968 student uprisings?
This article will be discussing whether or not the global south, with a focus on Senegal, is forgotten about during the discussion of the 1986 student uprisings. For context, in the year 1968 many countries across the globe experienced student uprisings, including big cities across Europe like Paris, Prague and London and even the US had their own student uprisings across many College campuses (Coughlan, 2011).
The protests that took place in Paris especially, got a lot of media attention and therefore it is easy to uncover information about it, unfortunately the student protests that took place in Senegal did not receive the same level of attention and therefore myself and others (Becker, 2018) argue that it is often forgotten about when the 1968 student uprisings are discussed. Just take a look at the article cited in the first paragraph, it is titled ‘Looking back with the 1968 rebels’ and it fails to mention the student uprising in Senegal, which is just one example of many articles with a strong bias towards the global North.
What happened in the Senegalise student uprisings of 1968? On the 27th of May 1968, the students of Dakar University went on strike and blocked the whole of their campus.
Their protests were met with violence and the surrounding neighborhoods were set ablaze (Guèye, 2021). For three days Senegal was filled with riots from the students and the events are today, known as a defining moment in their political history. Omar Guèye is a professor at the department of history at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar and in an interview discussing the uprisings, he stated that the uprisings were a result of the government’s decision to decrease the scholarship amounts and the amount of monthly payments that they will give. This would have meant that, for many, higher education would no longer be possible. The university of Dakar continued to be a French University eight years after their independence from France and the degrees awarded there had the same value as French degrees. In addition, up until 1967 the French students in the faculty of medicine outnumbered the Senegalise students. The Sengelese national students formed a small minority and they were perceived as ‘elite and comprised young people belonging to families from various origins’ (Guèye, 2021). At the time the scholarships awarded were equivalent to minimum wage and were commonly referred to as ‘intellectual salary’. The protests in Senegal only lasted three days, yet they had a huge impact. Burleigh Henderson in his article “Why do we still care about 1968?” explained the magnitude of the student protests in Senegal by saying ‘After Senghor ordered heavily armed military forces to evacuate the campus, French and Senegalese students in Paris rallied in solidarity to denounce the regime, with protests spreading even as far as Frankfurt’, (Hendrickson, 2021) this statement shows how relevant and important the student uprisings Senegal were because they reached as far as Paris and Frankfurt.
After discussing the impact of the 1968 student uprisings in Senegal it makes you question how it can be forgotten about in so many scholarly pieces of literature. People have suggested that the protests in Senegal and France have been linked to each other and this correlation was made because France had previously colonised Senegal up until the 15th of November 1958 (Independence Day of the Republic of Senegal : April 4th 1960, n.d.). In a different article written by Burleigh Henderson he argued that “intellectual migration from the colonies to the metropole—established during the colonial period—laid the foundations for transnational networks of activism in the protests that swept the globe in 1968” (Henderson, 2013) . This suggests that colonialism caused the student uprisings across the globe and this could also explain why the Senegalise uprisings are not as common knowledge, colonialists write history, it is very uncommon for colonialists to admit their damaging effect on countries they colonised and therefore that could explain why there is very little information on the 1968 student uprisings in Senegal in comparison to the amount there is on European student activism.
Therefore, in conclusion the Senegalise student uprisings are not fully forgotten about, however they are not given the same attention and acknowledgement as other student uprisings around the world i.e Paris and it is important to know about student activism movements around the world not just in developed countries.
references Becker, H., 2018. “Global 1968” on the African Continent. [online] Versobooks.com. Available at: <https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3791-global-1968-on-the-african-continent> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Escholarship.org. n.d. postscript: Dakar 1968. [online] Available at: <https://escholarship.org/content/qt9z76274d/qt9z76274d_noSplash_051b5eafd27da46ee9faa8c8670ffe14.pdf?t=pfel56> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Gùye, O., 2018. May 1968 in Senegal. [online] Versobooks.com. Available at: <https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3880-may-1968-in-senegal> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Henderson, B., 2018. Why do we still care about 1968?. [online] Taylor & Francis. Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17541328.2018.1541663?journalCode=rsix20> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Hodgkinson, D. and Melchiorre, L., 2019. Student activism in an era of decolonisation. [online] Available at: <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/introduction-student-activism-in-an-era-of-decolonization/05CE1FD0D1C81EC17EA829DBC5F3095E> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Presidence.sn. n.d. Independence Day of the Republic of Senegal : April 4th 1960. [online] Available at: <https://www.presidence.sn/en/presidency/independence> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Straffirf, A., 2021. [online] Voidnetwork.gr. Available at: <https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Senegal-MAY-1968-AFRICA%E2%80%99S-REVOLT-by-Andy-Stafford.pdf> [Accessed 18 November 2021].
annotated bibliography
1) Bathily, A., n.d. [online] Escholarship.org. Available at: <https://escholarship.org/content/qt9z76274d/qt9z76274d_noSplash_051b5eafd27da46ee9faa8c8670ffe14.pdf?t=pfel56> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
This article explains the 1968 student uprising in Sengal and it is titled 'Postscript: Dakar, 19681'. this article recognises that the uprising was a domestic issue however it suggests that the key to understanding it is to look at the wider global issues also going on at the time, specifically in countries like France who were also having their own uprising. while the article is good due to its explanation of the uprising, it is limited in its usefulness, it does not have any primary sources from Sengalise people and therefore doesn't give me a true understanding of what was going on at the time.
2) Guèye, O., 2021. May 1968 in Senegal. [online] Versobooks.com. Available at: <https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3880-may-1968-in-senegal> [Accessed 27 October 2021]. This artical is an interview with Omar Guèye who is a Professor at the Department of History, Université Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar. He was interviewed by journalist Odile Jolys. This makes it a good source to reference because it comes from someone with first hand experience in Sengal, who can his raw and true account of events. However, a drawback from this is that it is an informal interview and not a published article which means that it may have bias and inconsistencies compared to published articles which have to be proof-read.
3) Hendrickson, B., 2021. Why do we still care about 1968?. [online] Taylor & Francis. Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17541328.2018.1541663?journalCode=rsix20> [Accessed 7 November 2021]. This article discusses the impact of the global 1968 student uprising has on the world today giving a different perspective from other articles I have seen. This makes it a good article to use to develop my argument as it allows me to measure the impact of the uprising in Sengal, that being said, an issue with it is that it is heavily centred on the Western world's uprising i.e France and there is little on Sengal.
4) Strafford, A., 2021. [online] Voidnetwork.gr. Available at: <https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Senegal-MAY-1968-AFRICA%E2%80%99S-REVOLT-by-Andy-Stafford.pdf> [Accessed 7 November 2021]. This is an article written to explain the student uprisings of Sengal in 1968 and what I like about it is that it is only focussed on the uprisings in Sengal which means that it gives a deep and rich understanding of the whole situation during the student protests. That being said it was written by Andy Strafford who is a senior lecturer in French and Francophone studies at the University of Leeds which means that unfortunately he will have a colonialist point of view, which will inherently come with its bias'
5)Becker, H., 2018. “Global 1968” on the African Continent. [online] Versobooks.com. Available at: <https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3791-global-1968-on-the-african-continent> [Accessed 7 November 2021]. This source is another article focused on student uprisings particularly with the issue which I would like to focus on which is the lack of media coverage and inclusion of the African student uprisings during the discussion of student protests of the year 1968.
Peer Review:
Positives
- Your introduction is short and precise, it tells the reader what you will discuss in each section.
- The information regarding Senegal's uprising and how it is not documented in detail when compared to other 1969 uprising is extremely interesting, it also shows you did thorough research to find the information you did.
- Your main paragraph explains what the uprisings were, why they happened and what they achieved- this is excellent.
- Including the different perspectives within your paragraphs is a good approach.
- The article ticks the boxes in terms of the marking rubric.
Negatives:
- With your references, like we were shown in the workshop try to add them into the text with the numbering scheme. It makes your article much easier to read and find external links for further reading at the end of the article.
- Also, add bold or underline your headings/ subheadings so it is easier to navigate your article.
- You could add images to enrich the article.
Overall, the article is very informative and reads well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lawra1sussex (talk • contribs) 17:36, 1 December 2021 (UTC)
My response to the peer review recommendations
- Firstly I will improve the layout of the article and make it easier to read by including underlined headings and subheadings - Secondly I will attempt to cite my references in the way that we were taught in the wikipedia lesson - Thirdly I will add pictures to improve the article.
Is the global South forgotten about when discussing the 1968 student uprisings?
This article will be discussing whether or not the global south, with a focus on Senegal, is forgotten about during the discussion of the 1986 student uprisings. For context, in the year 1968 many countries across the globe experienced student uprisings, including big cities across Europe like Paris, Prague and London and even the US had their own student uprisings across many College campuses (Coughlan, 2011).
The protests that took place in Paris especially, got a lot of media attention and therefore it is easy to uncover information about it, unfortunately the student protests that took place in Senegal did not receive the same level of attention and therefore myself and others (Becker, 2018) argue that it is often forgotten about when the 1968 student uprisings are discussed. Just take a look at the article cited in the first paragraph, it is titled ‘Looking back with the 1968 rebels’ and it fails to mention the student uprising in Senegal, which is just one example of many articles with a strong bias towards the global North.
What happened in the Senegalise student uprisings of 1968?
On the 27th of May 1968, the students of Dakar University went on strike and blocked the whole of their campus.
Their protests were met with violence and the surrounding neighborhoods were set ablaze (Guèye, 2021). For three days Senegal was filled with riots from the students and the events are today, known as a defining moment in their political history. Omar Guèye is a professor at the department of history at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar and in an interview discussing the uprisings, he stated that the uprisings were a result of the government’s decision to decrease the scholarship amounts and the amount of monthly payments that they will give. This would have meant that, for many, higher education would no longer be possible. The university of Dakar continued to be a French University eight years after their independence from France and the degrees awarded there had the same value as French degrees. In addition, up until 1967 the French students in the faculty of medicine outnumbered the Senegalise students. The Sengelese national students formed a small minority and they were perceived as ‘elite and comprised young people belonging to families from various origins’ (Guèye, 2021). At the time the scholarships awarded were equivalent to minimum wage and were commonly referred to as ‘intellectual salary’. The protests in Senegal only lasted three days, yet they had a huge impact. Burleigh Henderson in his article “Why do we still care about 1968?” explained the magnitude of the student protests in Senegal by saying ‘After Senghor ordered heavily armed military forces to evacuate the campus, French and Senegalese students in Paris rallied in solidarity to denounce the regime, with protests spreading even as far as Frankfurt’, (Hendrickson, 2021) this statement shows how relevant and important the student uprisings Senegal were because they reached as far as Paris and Frankfurt.
After discussing the impact of the 1968 student uprisings in Senegal it makes you question how it can be forgotten about in so many scholarly pieces of literature. People have suggested that the protests in Senegal and France have been linked to each other and this correlation was made because France had previously colonised Senegal up until the 15th of November 1958 (Independence Day of the Republic of Senegal : April 4th 1960, n.d.). In a different article written by Burleigh Henderson he argued that “intellectual migration from the colonies to the metropole—established during the colonial period—laid the foundations for transnational networks of activism in the protests that swept the globe in 1968” (Henderson, 2013) . This suggests that colonialism caused the student uprisings across the globe and this could also explain why the Senegalise uprisings are not as common knowledge, colonialists write history, it is very uncommon for colonialists to admit their damaging effect on countries they colonised and therefore that could explain why there is very little information on the 1968 student uprisings in Senegal in comparison to the amount there is on European student activism.
Conclusion
Therefore, in conclusion the Senegalise student uprisings are not fully forgotten about, however they are not given the same attention and acknowledgement as other student uprisings around the world i.e Paris and it is important to know about student activism movements around the world not just in developed countries.
annotated bibliography'
1) Bathily, A., n.d. [online] Escholarship.org. Available at: <https://escholarship.org/content/qt9z76274d/qt9z76274d_noSplash_051b5eafd27da46ee9faa8c8670ffe14.pdf?t=pfel56> [Accessed 5 November 2021].
This article explains the 1968 student uprising in Sengal and it is titled 'Postscript: Dakar, 19681'. this article recognises that the uprising was a domestic issue however it suggests that the key to understanding it is to look at the wider global issues also going on at the time, specifically in countries like France who were also having their own uprising. while the article is good due to its explanation of the uprising, it is limited in its usefulness, it does not have any primary sources from Sengalise people and therefore doesn't give me a true understanding of what was going on at the time.
2) Guèye, O., 2021. May 1968 in Senegal. [online] Versobooks.com. Available at: <https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3880-may-1968-in-senegal> [Accessed 27 October 2021]. This artical is an interview with Omar Guèye who is a Professor at the Department of History, Université Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar. He was interviewed by journalist Odile Jolys. This makes it a good source to reference because it comes from someone with first hand experience in Sengal, who can his raw and true account of events. However, a drawback from this is that it is an informal interview and not a published article which means that it may have bias and inconsistencies compared to published articles which have to be proof-read.
3) Hendrickson, B., 2021. Why do we still care about 1968?. [online] Taylor & Francis. Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17541328.2018.1541663?journalCode=rsix20> [Accessed 7 November 2021]. This article discusses the impact of the global 1968 student uprising has on the world today giving a different perspective from other articles I have seen. This makes it a good article to use to develop my argument as it allows me to measure the impact of the uprising in Sengal, that being said, an issue with it is that it is heavily centred on the Western world's uprising i.e France and there is little on Sengal.
4) Strafford, A., 2021. [online] Voidnetwork.gr. Available at: <https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Senegal-MAY-1968-AFRICA%E2%80%99S-REVOLT-by-Andy-Stafford.pdf> [Accessed 7 November 2021]. This is an article written to explain the student uprisings of Sengal in 1968 and what I like about it is that it is only focussed on the uprisings in Sengal which means that it gives a deep and rich understanding of the whole situation during the student protests. That being said it was written by Andy Strafford who is a senior lecturer in French and Francophone studies at the University of Leeds which means that unfortunately he will have a colonialist point of view, which will inherently come with its bias'
5)Becker, H., 2018. “Global 1968” on the African Continent. [online] Versobooks.com. Available at: <https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3791-global-1968-on-the-african-continent> [Accessed 7 November 2021]. This source is another article focused on student uprisings particularly with the issue which I would like to focus on which is the lack of media coverage and inclusion of the African student uprisings during the discussion of student protests of the year 1968.
references
Becker, H., 2018. “Global 1968” on the African Continent. [online] Versobooks.com. Available at: <https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3791-global-1968-on-the-african-continent> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Escholarship.org. n.d. postscript: Dakar 1968. [online] Available at: <https://escholarship.org/content/qt9z76274d/qt9z76274d_noSplash_051b5eafd27da46ee9faa8c8670ffe14.pdf?t=pfel56> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Gùye, O., 2018. May 1968 in Senegal. [online] Versobooks.com. Available at: <https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/3880-may-1968-in-senegal> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Henderson, B., 2018. Why do we still care about 1968?. [online] Taylor & Francis. Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17541328.2018.1541663?journalCode=rsix20> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Hodgkinson, D. and Melchiorre, L., 2019. Student activism in an era of decolonisation. [online] Available at: <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/introduction-student-activism-in-an-era-of-decolonization/05CE1FD0D1C81EC17EA829DBC5F3095E> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Presidence.sn. n.d. Independence Day of the Republic of Senegal : April 4th 1960. [online] Available at: <https://www.presidence.sn/en/presidency/independence> [Accessed 18 November 2021]. Straffirf, A., 2021. [online] Voidnetwork.gr. Available at: <https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Senegal-MAY-1968-AFRICA%E2%80%99S-REVOLT-by-Andy-Stafford.pdf> [Accessed 18 November 2021].