Graduate student Aurelien Mauxion, supervised by Dr. Robert Launay, will undertake dissertation research on the relationship between socio-economic development and democratic practice in northern Mali, West Africa. In the 1990s, the Malian government decentralized administration and delegated much of state power to locally-elected municipal councils. This contrasted with a long history of local government being shaped by pre-existing state power structures. At the same time, state-managed irrigation and agricultural intensification projects became of increasing importance in the wake of repeated droughts. Mauxion will investigate how these contradictory developments, lessening state power in one arena while increasing it in another, work out in the local economy and politics.
Mauxion will use a mixed methods approach, combining participant observation and structured and semi-structured interviews with cartography and spatial analysis His research has three objectives: (1) to explore the negotiation of networks of socio-economic dependence based on land-tenure management and participation in agricultural development projects; (2) to analyze the impact of these networks on membership in political parties, voting behavior, and political leadership in a municipality; and (3) to clarify how these practices shape repertoires of authority and the local reality of the Malian state.
This research will extend social science understanding of democratization and development in Third World countries by providing fresh insight into how these macro-processes unfold at the local level. The research also will contribute to the education of a social scientist.
