Class struggles in Mali

Abstract

Over the last few years, Mali has undergone a structural and conjunctural crisis. Especially since 1973, the year when the Western media ‘discovered’ the Sahel drought, its economic foundations have been thrown into disarray. Even more recently, a crisis of government has been precipitated as reflected in numerous attempted coups d'etats. The convergence of these processes has left Mali in a state of shock out of which serious social contradictions will emerge over the next few years. François attempts to analyse recent events in terms of Mali's historical past and the principal structural problems within the econmy and society emergent during the colonial period and persisting following independence. He goes on to examine some of the forms which resistance and conflict have taken, and explores possible strategies for popular participation.