Claudine Vidal

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Claudine Vidal
Born22 April 1937
NationalityFrench
OccupationSociologist
Known forDirector emerita of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)

Claudine Vidal (born 22 April 1937) is a French sociologist and a director emerita of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). [1] She has conducted fieldwork in Africa for more than 20 years, especially in Sierra Leone and Rwanda and has published extensively about her findings there. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Life and work

Vidal centers her research on two African countries: Rwanda (from its pre-colonial history to the genocide of Tutsi Rwandans in 1994) and Ivory Coast (the history and sociology of urbanization in its largest city Abidjan). This research has been carried out in the framework of the Centre d'Études Africaines de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. She has been a leader and author with Doctors without Borders (MSF) since 1995 on many publications, and she is a member of MSF's CRASH endeavors. [6]

Selected works

Related Research Articles

Human arrival in Ivory Coast has been dated to the Upper Paleolithic period, or at the minimum, the Neolithic period based on weapon and tool fragments, specifically polished shale axes and remnants of cooking and fishing. The earliest known inhabitants of Côte d'Ivoire left traces scattered throughout the territory. Historians believe these people were all either displaced or absorbed by the ancestors of the present inhabitants. Peoples who arrived before the 16th century include the Ehotilé (Aboisso), Kotrowou (Fresco), Zéhiri, Ega, and Diès (Divo).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Félix Houphouët-Boigny</span> First president of Ivory Coast, from 1960 to 1993

Félix Houphouët-Boigny, affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux, was an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the first president of Ivory Coast from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he worked as a medical aide, union leader, and planter before being elected to the French Parliament. He served in several ministerial positions within the French government before leading Ivory Coast following independence in 1960. Throughout his life, he played a significant role in politics and the decolonisation of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Véronique Tadjo</span> Pan-African writer and artist from Côte dIvoire (born 1955)

Véronique Tadjo is a writer, poet, novelist, and artist from Côte d'Ivoire. Having lived and worked in many countries within the African continent and diaspora, she feels herself to be pan-African, in a way that is reflected in the subject matter, imagery and allusions of her work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">François-Xavier Verschave</span> French economist and historian (1945–2005)

François-Xavier Verschave was primarily known as one of the founders of the French NGO Survie ("Survival"), over which he presided since 1995, and as coiner of the term Françafrique, an expression for France's neocolonialism, a specific type of neocolonialism which has been imposed upon the former colonies of the French Empire by France.

Jean Hélène was a French journalist specializing in Africa. He was working for Radio France Internationale in Ivory Coast when he was killed in Abidjan by police Sergeant Théodore Séry Dago. Jean Hélène was his press name, Christian Baldensberger being his real name.

Claude Meillassoux was a French neo-Marxist economic anthropologist and Africanist. A student of Georges Balandier, he did fieldwork among the Guro (Gouro) of Côte d'Ivoire; his thesis was published in 1964. In the 1970s he criticised Marshall Sahlins's use of the notion of "domestic mode of production". Meillassoux was throughout his life a politically committed critic of social injustice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign relations of Ivory Coast</span>

Throughout the Cold War, Ivory Coast's foreign policy was generally favorable toward the West. In particular, Félix Houphouët-Boigny kept relations with France that was among the closest between any African country and a former colonial power. The country became a member of the United Nations at independence in 1960 and participates in most of its specialized agencies. It is also an associate member of the European Union. In general, President Bédié initiated and maintained relations with many countries of the European Union and Asia. Ivory Coast maintains a wide variety of diplomatic contacts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Lemarchand</span> French-American political scientist (born 1932)

René Lemarchand is a French-American political scientist who is known for his research on ethnic conflict and genocide in Rwanda, Burundi and Darfur. Publishing in both English and French, he is particularly known for his work on the concept of clientelism. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida, and continues to write, teach internationally and consult. Since retiring he has worked for USAID out of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire as a Regional Consultant for West Africa in Governance and Democracy, and as Democracy and Governance advisor to USAID / Ghana.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny</span> Public university in Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB) is an institution of higher education located in the Cocody section of Abidjan and the largest in Côte d'Ivoire. With over 50,000 students, the UFHB has 13 faculties and several research centers providing diplomas from two-year undergraduate to professional academic, medical, legal, and specialist degrees. From 1964 to 1996, it remained the main campus of the national University of Abidjan system. It is state owned and operated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. In 2008, it had 53,700 students.

Alexis Kagame was a Rwandan philosopher, linguist, historian, poet and Catholic priest. His main contributions were in the fields of ethnohistory and "ethnophilosophy".

Christian Lattier (1925–1978) was an Ivorian sculptor born in Grand Lahou, Côte d'Ivoire.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amadou Koné (writer)</span> Ivorian writer

Amadou Koné is a writer from Cote d'Ivoire.

Pierre Kipré is a historian and writer from Ivory Coast. He is a former student of the École normale supérieure in Abidjan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regina Yaou</span>

Regina Yaou was a writer from Ivory Coast.

The Académie des sciences, des arts, des cultures d'Afrique et des diasporas africaines (ASCAD), created on 1 September 2003 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, is an African cultural institution whose objective is to contribute to the development and influence of science, arts, African culture and that of the African diaspora. It is also aimed at economic growth and social progress. Its members include scientists, philosophers, writers, artists and inventors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude-Hélène Perrot</span> French historian and Africanist (1928–2019)

Claude-Hélène Perrot was a French historian and Africanist who specialized in the history of Côte d'Ivoire. She served as a professor of contemporary African history at the Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University from 1983 to 1993. Perrot's main areas of research concerned the history of the Akan of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana before colonization, mainly the Anyi and the Eotile; the use of oral tradition by historians; as well as relations between traditional African religions and political power. She was honored as Commander, Order of Ivory Merit.

André Guichaoua is a French sociologist and former expert witness for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He has been described by Scott Straus as "a leading scholar of Rwanda and the Habyarimana period".

References

  1. "Vidal, Claudine - Persée". www.persee.fr. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  2. Gatwa, Tharcisse (2005). The Churches and Ethnic Ideology in the Rwandan Crises, 1900-1994. OCMS. p. 107. ISBN   978-1-870345-24-8.
  3. Society, Canadian Anthropology (1997). Anthropologica. Canadian Anthropology Society. p. 96.
  4. Ferstman, Carla; Goetz, Mariana; Stephens, Alan (2009). Reparations for Victims of Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: Systems in Place and Systems in the Making. BRILL. p. 523. ISBN   978-90-04-17449-8.
  5. "Claudine Vidal". claudinevidal.academia.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  6. "Claudine Vidal". msf-crash.org. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  7. Mundt, Robert J. (1993). "Review of Sociologie des passions (Côte d'Ivoire, Rwanda)". African Studies Review. 36 (2): 118–120. doi:10.2307/524742. ISSN   0002-0206. JSTOR   524742.
  8. "France in Rwanda. Guilty neutrality". msf-crash.org. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  9. Claudine Vidal, Jean-Hervé Bradol, France in Rwanda. Guilty neutrality, 11 February 2019, URL : https://msf-crash.org/en/conferences-debates/france-rwanda-guilty-neutrality