Differentiated Security Production in Yaounde

Stéphanie Fer (1) , Marie Morelle (1) , Olivier Iyébi Mandjek (1)

1 PRODIG - Pôle de recherche pour l'organisation et la diffusion de l'information géographique

This article analyses forms of security production in two poor neighbourhoods of Yaoundé. The capital city of Cameroon relies on many national, regional, county or local institutions for security. Despite this concentration, the fear of being mugged or attacked is strong among residents. The difficult economic context is not indifferent to such a situation. Yet, we must not idealise public security policies in the decades preceding this crisis. Already at the beginning of the colonial era, the police force and gendarmerie carried out surveillance and control missions at the service of the State, to the detriment of people and property protection. Some of the neighbourhoods and residents of Yaoundé appear to be abandoned by the institutions within the framework of a neo-patrimonial State. Where this raises the issue of distribution of security offer in one of the largest cities of Cameroon, we posit that populations generate their own responses in the face of real or perceived insecurity. This article looks at unequal access to security, the feeling of injustice among the populations deprived of protection, and their capacity to exercise their own justice.

Mots clés: justice; security; popular initiatives; Yaoundé; Cameroon; Spatial justice

Domaines: Géographie; Architecture, aménagement de l'espace; Histoire, Philosophie et Sociologie des sciences

Stéphanie Fer, Marie Morelle, Olivier Iyébi Mandjek. Differentiated Security Production in Yaounde. Justice spatiale = Spatial justice, 2011, Security Practices in Cities, 4, http://www.jssj.org/article/se-proteger-a-yaounde/. ⟨halshs-01518871⟩