Cousin, Saskia (19..-....)

She tries to develop a multi-sited ethnography on tourism practices, politics and imaginaries. In Porto-Novo, Benin’s capital, her work examines the connection between heritagization, tourism and vodoo Worship. The renovation of the city is the focus of a long-standing conflict between supporters of the heritagization of the colonial and Afro-Brazilian city centre, and the proponents of its demolition in order to build a modern city that could accommodate the economic elites of the sub-region, especially from Nigeria, with the help of China. In this context, Vodoo, its gods and its influence network play a crucial urban, social and political role, although it is not taken into account by the European development cooperation which is focused on the built heritage. In contrast, for most inhabitants, this built heritage is synonymous with discomfort, poverty, or even post-colonial power.