The research project focuses on the relationship between Leopold Sedar Senghor and the world of work. My goal is to write a book that examines the role of the workplace in Senghor’s political career, from his alliance with the railway workers in 1948 that meant his entry into political activities, until the teachers’ dispute of SUDES-union in 1980 which coincided with his retirement from political life, with a main focus in the worldwide “May 68” in Senegal. It also gives the opportunity to study the connection of local trade unionism in the global trend, the relationships between Metropolis and colonies, the post-colony issues, and the meeting of several generations of workers with Senghor, one of the most outstanding personalities of the twentieth century.
This study will build on the following assumptions: (1) the world of work is the sociological basis as well as the gravedigger for the power of Senghor; (2) the alliance of Senghor and the workers needs to be understood in the general context of peoples’ struggle for democracy and freedoms; (3) May 68 was the biggest political crisis in Senegal.