Home is Claiming for Rights: The Moral Economy of Water Provision in Rural Senegal

In Senegal, when a borehole breakdown occurs in a community, the “son of the soil” is summoned to help as an informal key alternative to officials appointed by user committees. “Sons” have several points in common: Born in the village, they work as administrative executives in the capital Dakar and are connected to the ruling party. Sons of the soil narratives shed light on a specific “moral economy” in which people born on the same soil, home, have obligations to each other. In consequence, home constitutes a social space that can create its own rules as well as endorse compliance to them. Water absence also stresses the relations connecting rural communities to the state. Sons of the soil narratives are thus a way to explore local conceptions of citizenship.