Thirteen chapters present the debate among Sengalese academics undertaking a multi-facetted analysis of the social, political and economic development of their country, with the aim of finding innovative answers Senegal's current predicament. The major trends from 1960-1990 are identified, and factors contributing to the shift from a state intervention system to a "liberalism" which deconstructs some of the achievements of the immediate post independence period. The different discourses of politicians and the various stakes underlying these are revealed here plainly. The book also displays the complex relations between the political, economic and social areas, the conflicts/alliances between various legitimate bodies. Within this context, a reconstruction of the self-delusions on which some groups fed and still feed, is made. With this novel light shed on the specificities of the Senegalese crisis, the ways and means whereby the ruling class faces this situation can be identified, although its manouvering margin has severely shrunk.