Orthodoxy Towards Cultural Rituals. Identity Stakes among Youths of Malian Origin in Bouake (Cote-d'Ivoire)

Because of the historical development of colonisation and the modalities of the redefinition of citizenship in Cote-d'Ivoire, the Ivoirian national space formed itself by including a significant number of people of foreign origin, mainly Malians and Burkinabe. In Bouake (Cote-d'Ivoire's second largest city), people of Malian origin make up a large proportion of this population. During the 1990s Islam became the cornerstone of the individual and group identities of a growing number of youths living in this city, which is not the case for older people whose social networks and practices are still mainly tied to their places of origin in Mali. These youths identify to an Islam based on Arabic education and on the global Islamic community (the umma), and thus reject any aspect of ethnic or cultural differentiation. This Arabized version of Islam aims to curb any practices that may be considered as syncretic, especially regarding possible links between orthodoxy and culture, orthodoxy and tradition, or orthodoxy and ethnicity.