Studying African Political Parties as Social Milieus: Carrying Personal Relationships into Politics in Colonial Dahomey and Beyond, 1930-1960

This presentation discusses the potential of the milieu concept to understand the workings of certain political parties emerging with the introduction of elections and political participation in colonial Africa after 1945. This will be done by an in-depth examination of the party that, under varying names, established its hegemony in the northern regions of Dahomey (Benin) from 1951 onward. Tracking the relationships the party‘s leaders exploited to pursue electoral success, the paper explores the importance of pre-existing professional, religious and sociability activities. As this represents the work in progress of a comparative research project, the paper will propose interpretations relevant for other countries too.