Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I present some results of an ethnographic research project I am conducting at the Mbeubeuss rubbish dump, on the outskirts of Dakar. I consider the logistical organisation of waste as a privileged key to understanding the social and political life of waste in contemporary Senegal

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I present some findings from an ethnographic research project I am conducting at the Mbeubeuss rubbish dump, which was built in the 1960s on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal. Over the years, Mbeubeuss has generated socio-economic relations linked (directly and indirectly) to the treatment of waste, thus contributing significantly to the urbanisation of neighbouring communities and the consolidation of migration flows from rural areas of the country. Moreover, since the 1960s, a community of boudiumane (waste pickers) has lived and worked inside the dump. The logistical organisation and transport of waste to and from the dump is understood here as relational logistics, built and maintained thanks to the friendship and kinship relationships between the waste pickers and other figures in the informal waste market, such as wholesalers or carters. I see this relational logistics as a privileged key to understanding the social and political life of waste in contemporary Senegal.