We have chased Blaise, so nobody can resist us

Civil society and the politics of Ecowas intervention in Burkina Faso

Bibliographic Data

ID5724902
AuthorsA K Saidou (0000-0001-8680-4269, University Ouaga 2, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)
Year2018
Volume25
Issue1
Pages39-60
Publication date2018-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSouth African Journal of International Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1022-0461 • E-ISSN: 1938-0275
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10220461.2018.1417899
OpenAlexW2794371023
LanguageEN
Citations received17

This article analyses the limits of ECOWAS’ top-down approach to mediation, based on a case study from Burkina Faso in 2014 and 2015. It shows the growing importance of ordinary citizens in the regulation of political arenas, both at the domestic and the regional level, as well as citizens’ impact on ECOWAS mediation in Burkina Faso. It thereby argues that mediation in ‘revolutionary’ situations is hardly feasible. In Burkina Faso, the 2014 popular uprising created a new kind of citizenry who felt ‘sovereign’ and expressed its grievances through mass mobilisations. In such political contexts, regional mediation, which aims at re-establishing stability and power-sharing agreements, becomes problematic because it contradicts the spirit ‘from the streets’. Moreover, the top-down approach also erodes the legitimacy of the mediators, who are perceived to work against ‘the people’s will’. The reflection draws attention to the tensions between international mediators and actors from below and highlights the need to craft new strategies for conducting mediation in the context of popular uprisings

Civil society · Context (archaeology · Craft · Geography · Intervention (counseling · Legitimacy · Mediation · nobody · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · African Studies and Ethnography · African Studies and Geopolitics · Migration, Identity, and Health · Law

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