The government of masks in sentinel territories against Covid-19: Dakar and Seine-Saint-Denis

The pandemic of Covid-19 has led to reluctance or resistance to wear a mask in countries that made it compulsory. The acceptance to wear a mask against respiratory diseases depends on conceptions of scientific authority and of the personality in the public space. It has material and symbolic dimensions that can be covered under the term “government of masks”. We have questioned populations on these two aspects in territories we call sentinel because they are more exposed than others to emerging infectious diseases: Dakar (Senegal) and Seine-Saint-Denis (France). In France, school students have asked 250 people in public places on their perception of masks following a questionnaire, while in Senegal a team of master students went in 606 people’s houses to ask questions following the same questionnaire. Despite these methodological differences, our results show that the perception of the State in these territories influences the uses of masks against Covid-19 at symbolic and material levels. While in Seine-Saint-Denis, the State provides more masks than in Dakar, the trust in the efficacy of mask wearing is lower. From a symbolic point of view, the mask is for many people an intrusion of the State into the private sphere, which hinders physical contact between family members. On the contrary, from the material point of view, the mask is a need that manifests the presence of the welfare State to watch over the health of the population. This comparative study suggests that a State that is at the same time coercive and protective produces a lower level of adherence to mask-wearing recommendations than a State where religious authorities are included in the prescription and where individuals contribute to making masks.