Paper short abstract:

Through a comparison between the situations of young Senegalese wrestlers and early-career anthropologist, this provocation reflects upon the possibilities and challenges of building a politically efficacious solidarity.

Paper long abstract:

“Sociology is a combat sport”, Pierre Bourdieu famously said. While he was pointing to the social sciences’ usefulness as a self-defence tool against the naturalization of social arbitrariness, I’ll take Bourdieu’s sentence more literally. In a provocative stance, I’ll stress some similarities between the condition of young Senegalese wrestlers and that of early-career scholars. The differences between academia and làmb (Senegalese wrestling with punches) are so evident that this could not be more than a mock (but hopefully productive) comparison. By proposing this comparative provocation, I’ll reflect upon two interrelated questions: How does apprehending the situation of Senegalese wrestlers through a critical anthropological approach can best serve as a base to forge a politically efficacious solidarity? How does viewing the situation of early-career anthropologists through the lens of làmb can cast a new light on it and help acting upon our predicaments?