JLE

Sciences sociales et santé

MENU

From family companion to mercenaire: Subaltern workers in the transformation of Senegalese public psychiatry Volume 37, issue 2, Juin 2019

Authors
* Papa Mamadou Diagne, socio-anthropologue, CERMES3, 7 rue Guy Môquet, 94801 Villejuif, France
** Anne Lovell, anthropologue, CERMES3, 7 rue Guy Môquet, 94801 Villejuif, France

Using a constructivist perspective of the social division of hospital labor, this article analyzes the replacement of the family companion in Senegalese psychiatry by a “paid companion,” also known as a mercenaire. This development is linked to therapeutic and economic changes that have affected both hospitals and patients’ families in Senegal. Drawing on ethnographic research at two psychiatric inpatient sites, this article analyzes the mercenaire as a subaltern worker occupying an interstitial position within the formal organization, yet one that is essential for the management of psychiatric patients. Mercenaires are delegated security and care, typical functions of psychiatric institutions, yet their activities retain an ambiguity similar to that of other informal activities.