Cross-movement alliances against authoritarian rule: insights from term amendment struggles in West Africa
Cross-movement alliances against authoritarian rule: insights from term amendment struggles in West Africa
复制标题
反对独裁统治的跨运动联盟：西非任期修正案斗争的见解
作者：
Nina
摘要当塞内加尔前总统阿卜杜拉耶·瓦德试图绕过宪法对他连任的限制时，成千上万的人走上街头。这次动员的成功主要归功于新成立的青年运动Y 'en a marre。布基纳法索也发生了类似的事件，当时该国看到数十万人抗议前总统布莱斯·孔波雷可能继续执政--这一行动由社会运动巴莱公民领导，其公众形象也以音乐艺术家为主。然而，从有争议的政治角度审视这些反对国家元首任期延长的大规模动员，可以发现大量来自民间社会和政治的行为者参与了抗议活动。在这两种情况下，我们都发现了跨运动的动员，没有一个形成稳定或持久的联盟。我认为，这一现象的原因可以追溯到塞内加尔演员之间的竞争关系，以及布基纳法索的意识形态两极分化。我的结论概述了这些社会运动在更广泛的社会背景下的作用和相对重要性，并指出了未来的研究途径。
ABSTRACT When former president Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal tried to bypass constitutional limitations on renewing his candidature, tens of thousands took to the streets. The success of this mobilisation has been largely attributed to the newly created youth movement, Y’en a marre. Burkina Faso witnessed similar events, when the country saw hundreds of thousands protest against the potential continuation of former president Blaise Compaoré – the action being led by the social movement Balai Citoyen, whose public image also heavily featured music artists. Examining these large-scale mobilisations against term extensions by heads of state from a contentious politics perspective, however, reveals that a large number of actors from civil society and politics were involved in the protests. In both cases, we find cross-movement mobilisations, with none of them forming stable or enduring alliances. I will argue that the reasons for this go back to competitive relations among Senegalese actors, and ideological polarisation in the case of Burkina Faso. My concluding remarks outline the role and relative importance of these social movements within their broader societal contexts, and point at future pathways for research.