No. 37 (2021): Associations and bureaucratisation: African perspectives

Coordinated by Laure Carbonnel, Kamina Diallo et Lamine Doumbia
Editorial coordination for Émulations) byCédric Passard

The fact of associating is at the foundation of society, but a particular form tends to impose itself: the association that we call here bureaucratic, which refers to a law, which is constituted by statutes registered by a state administration, or which simply borrows practices from the bureaucratic imagination. What characterises the bureaucratic association? To answer this question, this thematic issue draws on empirical studies based on the African continent, where different grouping modalities have been described and analysed. The plurality of situations presented in this issue, both from the point of view of associations (student, religious, cultural, charitable) and countries (Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia), aims to bring out shared bureaucratic dimensions rather than starting from a bureaucratic model from which one would depart according to cultural specificities. This issue thus intends to reintegrate the bureaucratic imaginary into the heart of the reflection on associations in Africa, in their foundation and mutation, their relationship, their functioning, as well as the variety of forms of collectives.