Cultural Hegemony and Longevity on Power in Cameroon: An Analysis from a Socialist Perspective

Abstract

This article tries to adapt socialist and Marxist reading grids to the Cameroon case. It draws on the neo-Gramscian literature leaving aside concepts unsuited to the realities of the country. It offers the analysis axis harmed/profiteers who contrasts with that of proletarian/bourgeois in the literature. However, it notes that the client/owners paradigm remains the nodal point of neo-patrimonial relations. The article emphasizes the concept of “mass consciousness” to that of “legal consciousness” or “class consciousness”. It leads to a conclusion similar to that of Gramsci’s according to which the political system resists to the revolutionary commitment of harmed people in Cameroon thanks to the trenches built in social organizations under the influence of the hegemonic culture of profiteers.

Keywords

• hegemony
• power
• social antagonism
• hegemonic struggle
• social order