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Rural Emergings, Urban Imaginings: The Effect Of Urbanization On Senegalese Ethnic Identity, Arianna Calabrese

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For the past 40 years, Dakar has been the destination of Senegal’s massive rural exodus, with millions of rural villagers flocking to the city in search of work and education. The rural exodus has produced a unique multi-ethnic environment, where villagers, traditions, cultures, and languages from across the country converge. Ironically, therefore, Dakar’s landscape has been distinguished by the creation of an urban culture by a population of rural inhabitants. This paper examines the effects of urbanization on ethnic identity and affiliation, and further discusses the impact of Urban Wolof on personal identification among Dakar’s citizens. It then demonstrates how …