TITLE:
The Paradox around the Social Representations of Compressed Earth Block Building Material in Burkina Faso: The Material for the Poor or the Luxury Material?
AUTHORS:
Ousmane Zoungrana, Maïmouna Bologo/Traoré, Adamah Messan, Philbert Nshimiyimana, Gautier Pirotte
KEYWORDS:
Autochthony, Burkina Faso, Compressed Earth Bock, Public Policy, Social Representation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.9 No.1,
January
14,
2021
ABSTRACT: Compressed earth brick (CEB) is a masonry material which has the thermal
properties that are better adapted to the hot and dry climate of tropical and
Sahelian context like in Burkina Faso. Despite these advantages, CEB are still
not largely used in the construction sector in the city of Ouagadougou. In
order to better understand the obstacles linked to this low diffusion of CEB,
the present empirical study proposes a deep analysis of the social
representations of construction using CEB in the urban place. The results show
that four main categories of social representations coexist in the construction
sector using CEB: 1) the perception of CEB as the “material for the poor”, 2)
the perception of CEB as “improved or
precarious adobe” inherited from successive public policies to
rehabilitate the material, 3) the symbolic perceptions linked to the red color
of the brick and the durability of the material, and 4) the contemporary
post-materialist perception (luxury materials), according to a minority of
wealthy elites who have built their houses using CEB. These social
representations are essential to take into consideration for the implementation
of new public housing policies in general and promotion for the usage of CEB in
particular. This could accompany the studies which aim at improving the
technical performances of CEB and lead towards the socio-economic acceptance of
the materials.