ABSTRACT
Protests against presidential third-term bid have become common in Africa. Senegal's Y'en a marre (we're fed up) – a movement that emerged in 2011 and that managed to condition President Wade strategies to endure in power – is illustrative of the powerful role of citizens' movement in Africa. To understand Y'en a marre and their transformative impact, this chapter advances and tests a twofold argument. First, that movement actors took advantage of political opportunity structures (political openness, favourable media coverage, discursive opportunities resulting from a long tradition of youth protest) to engage in collective action and achieve their goals. Second, that they relied on innovative framing strategies (grammar of indocility, slogans, and wolofisaton of the vocabulary) to amplify and create resonance with their key messages. The findings build on qualitative methods and data, and contribute to understand the varying outcomes of protests against presidential third-term bid in Africa. It also brings to light innovative and more meaningful ways of analysing protests (exploring communication and linguistic systems).
