Negotiating Moral Authority for Body Repatriation: The Case of Senegalese Migration

“I will go to Touba dead or alive” is a well-known adage among Senegalese migrants that refers to believers’ commitment to be buried in the holy city of Touba. Drawing on an ethnographic study undertaken in Belgium, Spain, and Senegal, this essay sheds light on the activities, mutual relations, and negotiations between transnational organizations in charge of body repatriation. The thanatic ethics, the moral code of conduct concerning death, is a source of moral authority, political leverage, and even occasionally, of financial profit for these organizations. This essay focuses on the “historical” actors in this field, namely, the Murid Muslim brotherhood and hometown organizations and how they had to cope with the coming of a new player, i.e. private companies offering repatriation insurance. We examine the functioning of these organizations and the ways in which they adapt to the transformations of Senegalese transnationalism. The essay starts with a theoretical account of the production, forms, and evolution of the thanatic ethics that underpins the transnational management of death. Shifting from Europe to Senegal it examines how the Murid authorities make use of the administration of the Touba necropolis to buttress their moral authority. Meanwhile, new insurance products targeting Senegalese migrants are emerging that negotiate with both the Murid brotherhood and the Senegalese State. In conclusion, we argue that the interplay of both traditional and new moral authorities enables a co-construction of a contemporary thanatic authority. This co-construction transforms Senegalese transnationalism while reflecting social change dynamics in the Senegalese society.