RESEARCH
My research lies at the intersection of religion and politics. I examine how security crises involving religiously framed insurgencies push Muslim-majority states to intervene more deeply in religious life and how those interventions reshape state–religion relations, political authority, and the public religious sphere. Methodologically, my work draws on comparative historical analysis, qualitative fieldwork, archival research, and multilingual sources in English, French, and Arabic. It focuses primarily on Mauritania and Mali, with broader engagement across the Sahel and North Africa.
Dissertation
The Indispensable Sacred: How Jihadist-Inspired Insurgencies Reshape State–Religion Relations in the African Sahel
My dissertation develops a structured comparison of Mali and Mauritania, two countries with sharply contrasting constitutional relationships to Islam. Mali is officially a secular republic, whereas Mauritania is constitutionally an Islamic Republic. Despite this contrast, both countries have confronted insurgent pressures that prompted deeper state engagement with religion. I argue that the resulting strategies are shaped by the interaction between preexisting political and constitutional arrangements and leaders’ willingness to work within or transform those arrangements. The project draws on original fieldwork, archival research, and interviews conducted in both countries.
Broader Research Agenda
My broader research agenda examines attempts of Muslim-majority states to structure religious life and how those interventions affect religious authority and broader state–society relations. One line of inquiry focuses on how state intervention in religion affects Islamist movements and the political environments in which they organize, mobilize, and compete. I also study political transitions and civil–military relations in West Africa, particularly the politics of coups and post-coup transition processes.
___________________________________________________________________
PUBLICATIONS
Manuscript Under Review
Adou, Baba. 2026. “Political Parties and Post-Coup Electoral Legitimation in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Guinea, Gabon, and Niger.” Manuscript under review at African Studies Review.
Book Chapters
Adou, Baba. 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026. “Mauritania.” Annual country chapters in Africa Yearbook: Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara, Vols. 19–22. Edited by Benedikt Kamski, Andreas Mehler, Peter Narh, and David Sebudubudu. Leiden: Brill.
Adou, Baba. 2025. “Mauritania’s Chairmanship of the African Union.” In Yearbook on the African Union, Vol. 5, edited by Ulf Engel, 61–76. Leiden: Brill.
Adou, Baba. 2023. “Mauritania: General Overview of the Country.” In IEMed Mediterranean Yearbook 2023, 228–230. Barcelona: European Institute of the Mediterranean.
Scholarly Articles
Adou, Baba. 2026. “Beyond ‘Official Islam’: How State Islamization Blunted Islamist Opposition in Mauritania.” The Project on Middle East Political Science. POMEPS Studies No 59, pp. 20–25.
Adou, Baba. 2025. “Islam and the Struggle for National Identity in Mauritania: Mediating Arabo-African Divides?” Souffles Monde, Issue Four: Afro-Arab Trajectories.
Adou, Baba. 2024. “Racializing Arabic: Colonial Education Policies and the Linguistic Issue in Contemporary Mauritania.” The Project on Middle East Political Science. POMEPS Studies No. 52, pp. 7–11.