Bare-foot activists: transformations in the Haratine movement in Mauritania

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Book chapter

Title:	Bare-foot activists: transformations in the Haratine movement in Mauritania
Author:	Ould Ahmed Salem, Zekeria
Book title:	Movers and shakers: social movements in Africa
Year:	2009
Pages:	156-177
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Mauritania
Subjects:	slaves abolition of slavery interest groups
Abstract:	Slavery was a widespread phenomenon in much of precolonial Africa but Mauritania stands out as one of the few African countries where it persisted as en entrenched institution in postcolonial times. Mauritania also offers a rare example of an emancipation movement founded and run by slaves, ex-slaves and descendants of slaves (Haratine). This pioneering social movement enabled people of servile origins to carve out a place for their protest actions in the public sphere. Previously, there had been isolated cases of slave revolts but El-Hor, an organization founded in 1978 by activists of slave descent, developed into a social and political movement that ultimately entered the corridors of political power. El-Hor ('freeman' or 'emancipated') aimed to further the 'liberation and emancipation' of the 'heirs of slavery'. This chapter analyses the transformations undergone by the Haratine movement since its first actions in 1980. Notes, ref., sum. [Book abstract]