Jean-Marcellin Manga holds a doctorate in political and social sciences from the University of Liege. He teaches at the Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Legal and Political Sciences of the University of Yaoundé II – (Cameroon).
MIASA Project: Hegemonic Masculinities and the Digital Turn in Africa
Created from Côte d’Ivoire in December 2020, a “union against women” has emerged on the Internet. Called the “Syndicate”, it has popularized the injunction “no more than 2000 FCFA” as compensation to women regardless of the nature of their demands or services rendered. Based on a digital anthropology supplemented by interviews, this research analyzes the issues that have emerged. Two main arguments are developed. On the one hand, the idea of the union as a “new” expression of a desire for male hegemony to regain control in the face of a new female visibility perceived as problematic is explored. On the other hand, by introducing the idea of deconstructing the relationship between men and women, a less radical reading is developed, in line with recent work calling for a nuance in the stereotypical image of “African masculinities”.