Des lançados aux expatriés :1 « l’Ethnie2 Blanche »3 entre les fleuves Sénégal et Casamance

Abstract

The region located between the Senegal and the Casamance rivers has
a long history of the presence of Western white men. Although the
characters and situations modeled by the ‘White Ethnic Group’ over
time have been very varied, there are characteristics that are repeated,
continuities associated with the ambiguity of social status, gender
relations or economic specializations, on the boundary between both local and global levels. The paper explores the durability of a cultural
boundary, suggesting avenues of research from the figure of lançados.
The analysis shows indications, repeated parallels between the effects of
variations in boundary conditions on the collective ‘White’, swaying between
maintaining their identity and integrating into indigenous communities.
The author believes that a long-term perspective would help understand
the current articulation of contingents of cooperation volunteers
who come to the region, an understanding that could be extrapolated to
other areas on the continent.