Methodological seminar – Delphine Manetta

On October 18, Dr Manetta, presented the methods she mobilized to conduct a political ethnography of south-west Burkina Faso. She discussed fieldwork experiences that led her to analyze social relations throug moves, place & space.

Delphine Manetta’s seminar constituted a retrospective reading of her fieldwork experiences in jàana villages of Southwestern Burkina Faso. She described situations exemplifying the social control she went through between 2009 and 2019. At the beginning, the family who hosted her immobilized her in the compound day and night. Her immobility had a purpose: they feared that she could be bewitched or poisoned by villagers, because of her supposed wealth. From her hosts’ point of view, villagers were jealous and wanted to make her run away. Their goal was to deprive her hosts of her money. A twist happened later, when men tried to attract, not only her money, but also her sexual favor by using drugs or witchcraft. From then on, her goal was to canalize her economical and her sexual power, by channeling her moves towards their own house. However, this twist happened at a particular moment: when she broke free from her hosts’ compound, by buying a motorcycle and moving temporarily to other compounds. Finally, these experiences have grown an idea in her mind: what if social relations could be analyzed through movements, places and space?