- #COUNTRY IN COLONIAL TIMES WAS KNOWN AS UPPER VOLTA INSTALL#
- #COUNTRY IN COLONIAL TIMES WAS KNOWN AS UPPER VOLTA FREE#
captures this complex history and the political tensions that are spawned today by the legacy of colonialism. " undertakes a multi-faceted look at the social, political and cultural analysis of… traditional chieftaincy institutions in former Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso (the land of the Honest Man), in West Africa. A fine film which transcends mere politics and moves sensitively into the realm of culture." -Chris Youé, President, Canadian Association of African Studies "RED HAT captures the tenuous but persistent position of chiefs in a modern African democracy. A wake-up call that modernization may not always tradition." -International Journal of African Historical Studies This and the voices of both urban and rural elders heard throughout the documentary provide the viewer with an assortment of lenses to deconstruct the true political and social values of chiefs in Burkina Faso. Fair in its treatment of the younger perspectives of the traditional institutions. "Tackles the tenuous and delicate matter of tradition versus modernity through an analysis of the state of chieftaincy in Burkina Faso.
But now, fed up with marginalized status, many chiefs feel the time has come to make a stand.
Sidelined in the process of decentralization and modernization, the chiefs were often left out of the equation. The chieftaincy of Burkina Faso has survived colonialism, revolution, and democracy by forming alliances with the various regimes, but is now confronted with the growing political consciousness of the people. But no one wants to grant us legal status." Naaba Sigri, in summing up the dilemma facing the chiefs, explains, "If there is trouble, people expect us to come forward and make our opinions known. But these efforts make the new elite nervous - they remember the coup attempt 40 years ago. Today, the chiefs are trying to reclaim a more prominent place in society. Tigré believes his people live in two civilizations, modern and traditional, and that they need the traditional chiefs to preserve culture in the face of modernization. Formerly a banker, he is now a well-off farmer, rancher, and member of the National Assembly. Larlé Naaba Tigré is typical of contemporary chiefs.
#COUNTRY IN COLONIAL TIMES WAS KNOWN AS UPPER VOLTA FREE#
But in the capital Ouagadougou, where people have access to a free press and television, criticism of the chieftaincy can be sharp. But after Sankara was overthrown, a new constitution has tacitly recognized the chieftaincy, and some claim, customary law.Īnd although their power is not what it once was, chiefs can still dominate rural life. Historian Magliore Somé describes the failed coup d'état, and the years of mistrust between the new government and the chiefs that followed.ĭuring popular revolutionary Captain Thomas Sankara's regime (1983 - 1987) the traditional powers of the chieftaincy were curtailed further.
#COUNTRY IN COLONIAL TIMES WAS KNOWN AS UPPER VOLTA INSTALL#
In 1958 one of the four great Mossi chiefs attempted to install himself as a constitutional monarch. In 1956, when French colonies began to form parliaments as a precursor to independence, tensions built between the chiefs and an emerging civil society. Since the French Colonial period the chieftaincy's power in Burkina Faso has fluctuated with shifts in the governing regime. Using interviews with chiefs and their critics, and archival footage, the film looks at how the chiefs have navigated political change, and at how they interact with both the government and people today. An analysis of the socio-political position of traditional chiefs in Burkina Faso, RED HAT, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? examines at the role of Mossi chiefs in this West African nation.
0 kommentar(er)
