From the Grassfields to the River: Understanding Divergent Legacies of Conflict in Cameroon

• In Event: Political Parties in Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

Violent conflict is associated with both mobilizing and demobilizing legacies. Exposure to political violence has been linked to increased engagement, such as higher rates of voting and attending protests. In some cases, however, victimized segments of a post-conflict society vote and protest at lower rates relative to the average citizen. Under what conditions does political violence result in mobilizing over demobilizing outcomes? I argue that local sociopolitical cleavages shape local iterations of violence, which then influence legacies of conflict. Violence that is largely intercommunal – experienced between members of a community and factions from outside – provides a shared experience of victimization and basis for collective grievances. The effects are mobilizing. By contrast, violence committed between members of the same community deepens and bloodies intracommunal cleavages. The effects are demobilizing. I test these ideas with data from an original 2024 survey conducted in southern Cameroon. From 1956 to 1971, the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) led a guerilla war across two theatres of conflict, referred to as "maquis." The Bassa maquis was populated with numerous UPC fiefs where the party was largely uncontested. These areas were fewer and farther between in the Bamiléké maquis, where the UPC was frequently challenged by traditional institutions, religious groups, and competing political parties. My survey elucidates the associations between pre-conflict political cleavages, nature of violence, and political behavior.

Author

• Joseph Lasky, Cornell University