Désacraliser les symboles de l’état à l’ère des réseaux sociaux numériques : analyse d’une nouvelle forme de contestation politique au Cameroun

Abstract

This research focuses on ‘‘Desacralising state symbols in the era of digital social networks : analysis of a new form of political protest’’. It is based on two main observations : the first is that since 2016, the social and political environment in Cameroon has been characterised by crises and demands (Anglophone crisis, socio-political tensions following the 2018 presidential elections). The second is based on the fact that digital social networks have opened up political debate, with a strong tendency towards violent contestation of central power in Cameroon, involving actions that trivialise state symbols. Thus, the problem identified here is that of the transformation of digital social networks into a space for the desacralisation of state symbols. The question that arose from the foregoing was: how can we understand political contestation through the desacralisation of state symbols in the era of digital social networks in Cameroon ? In response, it is said that political protest through the desacralisation of state symbols is understood through the appropriation of symbols by protesting actors. In effect, they are the embodiment of the civic ideal (maintaining unity, cohesion) and the symbolic ideal (sacredness). Two theories were used: field theory and political opportunity theory. Through documentary observation and semi-structured interviews with political analysts, members of political parties and members of civil society, we identified and analysed the symbols that are most involved in political contestation through the desacralisation of state symbols, as well as the effect of this practice on the oppositional struggle in Cameroon's democratic field. Several results emerge from this work. The first is postulated as follows: contestation through the desacralisation of state symbols is presented as a consequence of struggles in the Cameroonian social and political field. The second result postulates that with democratisation, the virtual public space accessible to all gives rise to sometimes insurrectionary-type contestations, criticisms and controversies about the way in which power is exercised and maintained in Cameroon. A third result states that there is a type of actor who engages in the trivialisation of state symbols, whom we describe as ‘‘political influencers’’ : an actor who is active on digital social networks and who uses his media exposure to debate Cameroonian politics. In short, it is important to remember that with digital social networks, the desacralisation of symbols of the State is giving rise to an oppositional struggle characterised by information warfare, political marketing and political responsibility.