Democratic transition and the rise of Anglophone autonomist demands in Cameroon

Abstract

Democratic transitions in Africa have helped spread Anglophone demands in Cameroon and beyond. Interviews conducted between 2023 and 2025 revealed that they have allowed Anglophones to publicly and formally express their discontent with the marginalization they feel they have suffered since reunification. This article analyzes how these transitions have shaped Anglophone demands in Cameroon. It focuses primarily on the political opportunities that have fostered their growth. Based on an empirical approach, the research question places the advent of democracy and Anglophone demands in tension. How do democratic transitions in Africa act as a catalyst for Anglophone demands in Cameroon? The methodological approach is based on a documentary analysis of political opportunity structures and Anglophone demands. It also draws on semi-structured interviews conducted in Yaoundé and, incidentally, outside the capital with various Anglophones (magistrates, ordinary citizens, teachers). The results reveal that the political détente of 1990, the emergence of human rights and the rule of law in Cameroon led to the rise of Anglophone demands and the reconstruction of an Anglophone identity fractured during the authoritarian period.