The openMovements series invites leading social scientists to share their research results and perspectives on contemporary social struggles.
CrossedArms.Y’en a marre. All rights reserved.Since 2010 protests and riots have exceeded the rate of civil wars fought in African states, as the Armed Conflict Location and Events Dataset (ACLED) Databank reveals. One central reason for massive uprisings are presidents who are desperately clinging to power. Heads of states in Burundi, Senegal, or DR Congo – to name just a few – have tried to extend their terms, either by a constitutional amendment or by other (non-)institutionalized means.
As the constitutional law is often not well known within the population (similar to other world regions), it is stunning how social movements were able to mobilize the masses to protest against those democratic backslidings, often combined with demands for better governance. Two youth movements in West Africa have gained massive media attention – Y’en a marre in Senegal and Balai Citoyen in Burkina Faso. Some of them criticized the lack of future visions of those movements: others were not willing to share the monopoly of the fight.
