Paper short abstract:

This paper shows how Burundian politics has been shaped by a series of traumatic events, taking place in 1961, 1972, 1993 and 2015. It proposes that, though it would be misleading to think of them as coming out of nowhere, their sheer intensity proved a game-changer for the country's trajectory.

Paper long abstract:

Burundi, a tiny country in the very heart of Africa, has in its relatively short independent history experienced more than its share of traumatic political developments. Indeed, for a country that has at different periods been touted by the international community as a model for others to follow, Burundi was always in the end struck by a tragedy that literally changed the course of the country's history. This paper identifies four such climactic events: the assassination of Prince Louis Rwagasore, the country's pro-independence leader, in 1961 (13 October); the selective genocide, as it has come to be known, of the Hutu in 1972; the assassination of Melchior Ndadaye, the first Hutu president elected in multi-party elections in 1993; and the protests and attempted coup d'etat of 2015, which tried to prevent incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza from seeking re-election.

Although these four dates in the modern Burundi history have been nothing short of watershed moments, the paper makes the following two arguments: one, that it would be incorrect to view these emergent events as unexpected, in other words as "coming out of nowhere"; rather, it locates them in the context of other socio-political issues that propelled the country along its path. And two, the paper argues that all these events ought to be viewed as linked on a historical continuum whereby the country's national identity—still a work in progress—is being negotiated, challenged, and renegotiated.

Paper short abstract:

Notre papier, qui s'inspire de notre publication dans la revue Politique africaine, cherche à démontrer comment l'Etat au Cameroun se nourrit d'une économie du soupçon instillée contre les acteurs du "bas" comme réponse immédiate à la crise sociopolitique et économique qu'il traverse.

Paper long abstract:

La situation socio-politique et économique actuelle au Cameroun est marquée par un contexte général de crise. Outre la rareté et l'assèchement budgétaire, le pays fait face depuis 2014 à la menace du groupe Boko Haram, sans compter les récentes formes de revendications séparatistes baptisées « crise anglophone ». Ces deux grandes « crises » ont tendance à capter les dépenses jugées prioritaires. De fait, les ressources sont particulièrement limitées pour faire face à la crise économique que connaît le pays depuis 2016. Il est certain que cette situation doit être interrogée dans les transformations des modes de gouvernement qu'elle induit. Ne pouvant plus effectivement compter sur sa bourse pour mener des stratégies de légitimation par clientélisme et par emploi des dispositifs de violence à grande échelle comme il le faisait plusieurs décennies plus tôt, l'Etat met en œuvre des mécanismes de légitimation qui s'articulent avec une suspicion généralisée qui marque le quotidien. A partir d'un cas d'étude spécifique - la mise en œuvre du Programme Participatif d'Amélioration des Bidonvilles (PPAB) dans la ville de Yaoundé en 2016 -, nous voudrions montrer comment s'est déployée cette politique sous deux formes de surveillance toutes suscitées et alimentées par les instances de coordination : suspicion par le haut et suspicion par le bas. Ces deux formes de suspicion semblent dessiner de réels changements qui pourtant ne modifient pas l'ordre établi. L'hypothèse de la suspicion pourrait expliquer l'impression de changements dans le statu quo et l'absence de recours généralisé à la violence physique au Cameroun.

Paper Download (399 KB)

Paper short abstract:

This article uncovers the impact of humanitarian emergencies on the political order and legitimacy within authoritarian low-intensity conflict settings. It details the case of 2016 Zimbabwe, during which a drought coincided with a wave of protests and state repression.

Paper long abstract:

This article aims to further uncover the impact of humanitarian emergencies triggered by extreme climatic events, which are increasingly common, on the political order and legitimacy within authoritarian low-intensity conflict settings. It details the case of 2016 Zimbabwe, during which an intense drought triggered by the El Nino climatic phenomenon coincided with a wave of protests and state repression, ultimately leading to the 2017 coup and President Mugabe's removal from power. During four months of qualitative fieldwork in 2018-2019 conducted in Harare, Bulawayo and one drought-affected peri-urban community of Bulawayo, members of civil society groups ranging from community committees to church groups and Zimbabwean non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international NGOs as well as international humanitarian organizations were approached. The findings detail how the information gathering, negotiation and aid distribution practices surrounding the drought response tested actor alliances differently at both national and community level, and how these levels are interlinked. In a context where conflict fault lines are multiple and deeply rooted, where droughts are recurrent, and where the politicization of food aid is an open secret within humanitarian and civil society circles also, a question remains: of the hydro-meteorological and the political crisis, which one is the disruptive event?

Paper short abstract:

The article shows how a disaster crystalized intra-state political strife. It uncovers the complexity of a state led response in practice, dissecting the concept of the state and providing insight into the impact of disasters on the internal politics of the state on different state levels.

Paper long abstract:

On 14 August 2017, Sugarloaf Mountain in Sierra Leone 'broke'. The ensuing mudslide and floods swept through a densely populated area in Freetown, killing over 1.000 people and affecting thousands within minutes. This disaster hit a country still recovering from a decade-long civil war that ended in 2002 and a two-year Ebola epidemic that lasted until 2016.

The response to the mudslide and floods crystallized intra-state politics, not only on a national level, but also between the national and local state levels. On national level, the authority between state institutions was disputed. While policies were clear about the roles and responsibilities, they had to be negotiated in practice. As the post-conflict period is rife with institutional changes, the state institutions competed for their role in the response. On the community level, each actors' role in the response was negotiated between the chiefs and the state institutions. As a state structure that derives its power from an hierarchical and patriarchic direction, the chief's authority was partly compromised by the overtaking presence of the national state on the local level. However, their societal role was stronger. The way the chiefs were able to gather support from their community members either strengthened or weakened their authority. The politics of disaster response therefore uncovered and intensified the contention within and between state institutions.

The article is based on four months of qualitative fieldwork from September 2017 to January 2018, that included 93 semi-structured interviews with various state, aid and societal actors.