Democracy in Translation
Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture
Cornell University Press · Print & ebook · July 18, 2000
Frederic C. Schaffer challenges the assumption often made by American scholars that democracy has been achieved in foreign countries when criteria such as free elections are met.
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- Who it’s for
- A study of how Wolof-speaking Senegalese understand democracy, voting, and community ties.
- Genres
- Democracy, How Cultures Work, Comparative Politics
- Published
- Cornell University Press, July 18, 2000
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Frederic C. Schaffer challenges the assumption often made by American scholars that democracy has been achieved in foreign countries when criteria such as free elections are met. Elections, he argues, often have cultural underpinnings that are invisible to outsiders. To examine grassroots understandings of democratic institutions and political concepts, Schaffer conducted fieldwork in Senegal, a mostly Islamic and agrarian country with a long history of electoral politics.
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Schaffer discovered that ideas of "demokaraasi" held by Wolof-speakers often reflect concerns about collective security. Many Senegalese see voting as less a matter of choosing leaders than of reinforcing community ties that may be called upon in times of crisis. By looking carefully at language, Schaffer demonstrates that institutional arrangements do not necessarily carry the same meaning in different cultural contexts. Democracy in Translation asks how social scientists should investigate the functioning of democratic institutions in cultures dissimilar from their own, and raises larger issues about the nature of democracy, the universality of democratic ideals, and the practice of cross-cultural research.
Demokaraasi and Voting
A study of how Wolof-speaking Senegalese understand democracy, voting, and community ties.
Come here for
- Grassroots meanings of democratic institutions in Senegal
- Wolof-speaking understandings of demokaraasi and collective security
Expect
- Voting as a way to reinforce community ties
- Questions about democracy across cultural contexts
Where it sits
| Democracy | 59% |
|---|---|
| Comparative Politics | 40% |
| How Cultures Work | 34% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- West African History
- Democracy
- Elections & Campaigns
- Authors
- Frederic Charles Schaffer
- Publisher
- Cornell University Press
- Published
- July 18, 2000
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- West African History