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Chronicle of a Student Strike in Africa: The Case of Burkina Faso, 1996–1997

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Christopher Wise
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Abstract:

During the 1996–1997 academic year, students at the University of Ouagadougou went on strike for three months. This strike was the worst in Burkina Faso's history (or in the history of the former “Upper Volta”). The author, who was a visiting American professor at the time of the strike, details what happened at the university and in related incidents in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. The author suggests that the strike may have resulted from the erosion of democratic rights within Burkinabè society, following the assassination of former President Thomas Sankara and the rise to power of current President Blaise Compaoré. Our attention is drawn to contributing factors behind the strike, including long-standing structural problems at the University of Ouagadougou and the politically motivated killing of popular professors and the former student body president Dabo Boukary, all of whom had spoken out against the Compaoré regime.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Pendant l'année scolaire 1996-1997, les étudiants de l'université de Ouagadougou sont allés en grève pendant une durée de trois mois. Cette grève était la pire dans l'histoire du Burkina Faso (ou dans l'histoire de l'ancienne Haute Volta). L'auteur, qui était alors professeur visiteur américain, raconte en détail les événements à l'université par rapport à des événements à Ouagadougou et Bobo-Dioulas-so. L'auteur soutient que la grève a dû être le résultat d'une érosion des droits démocratiques dans la société burkinabé à la suite de l'assassinat de l'ancien prèsident Thomas Sankara et l'arrivée au pouvoir du président Biaise Compaoré. L'auteur attire notre attention sur les facteurs qui ont contribué à la grève, parmi lesquels les problèmes structurels de longue date de l'université et l'assassinat politique de célèbres professeurs et de Dabo Boukary, ancien président des étudiants qui avaient critiqué le régime de Campaoré.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , September 1998 , pp. 19 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1998

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