Jean-Bernard Ouédraogo is professor of Sociology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris, and Research Director at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Paris. From 2002-2008, he served as deputy Executive Secretary of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Dakar, and from 1989-2002 he was professor of Sociology at the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.