Party Politics and Economic Reform in Africa's Democracies

leaders, have been arrested several times, but always released. They are clearly part of the political scene, and in a pluralist political system can no longer be suppressed. Their existence and the basis of their demands has forced both the state and liberal clerics to take a stand. Though members of the ulema have defended slavery in its traditional forms, members of Tawassoul have defended anti-slavery positions, though perhaps reluctantly. In 2007, the state criminalised slave ownership. Chapter 5 goes into the ideological basis of the hratin movement, focusing on the struggle for dignity and respect, particularly in the mosque. The most interesting part is a discussion of a group of clerics of hratin origin and their struggle for acceptance. Chapter 6 involves family law and personal status and involves three cases. The first is a suit by the son of a Mauritanian diplomat who sought to have his slave mother recognised as a concubine, and thus himself as legitimate. The other two involve the unsuccessful efforts of noble families to annul marriages, one between a griot and a noblewoman and the second between the son of a slave and a noblewoman. These case studies provide a fuller picture of what the struggle for equality is about and how complex the issues are. In the third case mentioned above, the young woman’s “tutor” was her brother, who approved of the marriage and was a friend of the former slave. The book comes out at a time when the issues are very much alive, and they are likely to continue to be important. The struggle against slavery has become important because the French colonisers have done nothing to work towards its abolition and because today servile people can mobilise. For anyone who wants to understand the struggle, this book is indispensable, perhaps the best and certainly the most textured account we have of the struggle against slavery in Mauritania.