A Conversation with Ibrahima Thiam

Wednesday, November 27th, 2024

2 pm est/1 pm cst/12 pm mst/11 am pst

In March 2024, the Senegalese people, following the winds of change sweeping West Africa over the last decade, voted for progressive change against the French-leaning political establishment. On March 24, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected President, promising an end to Senegal’s dependency on France, Pan-African unity and self-development, and economic opportunity for the youth. This change comes in the wake of a deepening economic crisis in Senegal and West Africa, a wave of coups in the neighboring Sahel region, intensifying climate change leading to prolonged drought and rising sea levels, and massive migration by land and sea to Europe and beyond.

We will talk with Ibrahima about all of these events and how the social movements of Senegal and West Africa in general are reacting, interacting, and leading these transformations.

Introducing Ibrahima Thiam: "I was born in August 1973 in Rebeuss, a very popular district of Dakar, Senegal. After my first classes (primary and secondary school), I traveled to Germany to study Political Science and Economics. After graduating in 2010 on the subject 'Politics and Religion in Senegal, the case of religious Murid brotherhood of the Muriden,' I joined the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RSL) West African office in Dakar. My work is managing RLS projects around the themes of natural resources and climate change. My key interest is in fighting climate injustice with grassroots organization. Four years ago I started a national network of actors for climate justice. The 14 regions of the country are represented in that platform that stands as the voice of the climate-impacted people. Every year I organize the climate school. The concept consists of gathering climate activists and scholars to interrogate climate issues and promote debates. Beside my profession, I am a poet and I have published in French (Entre le rythme et le Blues), in Wolof (Doxandéem, meaning 'the Adventurer'), and German (Dazwischen, meaning 'in-between')."

Examining the Winds of Change on the African Continent, Part 1

By Institute for Social Ecology

Examining the Winds of Change on the African Continent, Part 1

Anti-Colonialism, Climate Change, and Social Transformation In Senegal