Motherhood, Authority, and Power in the Senegambia

This book presents the political and social history of the position of the lingeer (female ruler) of 5 states of the Senegambia covering over 6 centuries. The author offers an interpretation of the history within a hermeneutic of Africana liberation and argue that the European colonizers’ ignorance (or ignoring) of pre-existing governmental structures in the Senegambia created an ongoing existential crisis for people in the region. In the work, the author demonstrates how a dual-gender authority system provided a significant metaphysical issue to Western social organization through an interrogation of the ontology of power and who could and should wield it within governing structures. Wolof and Serrer theories on the essentialism of power the essentialism of gendered authority systems as male power is incapable of existing without female power. The book includes a focus on the lingeer as a ruling counterpoint to the male rulers explaining how this gendered authority system was tempered more in the Wolof kingdoms with their strong Islamic influence as opposed to the stronger structures of gendered authority in the Serrer kingdoms with stronger influence from the traditional religions. The evolution of the institution over the centuries is also examined. Finally, the author explores the dual-gendered authority system as a potential remedy for current African governments and concludes with a discussion on how the dual-gendered power was exported from Africa into the Western Hemisphere as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.