Authoritarian continuity. HIV/AIDS policies as revealing the (non)transformations of the state in Cameroon

Abstract

The present article examines political practice in Cameroon, its transformations and variations through a sociological analysis of public HIV/AIDS action targeting children. The article hypothesizes that there is an authoritarian continuity of state power, including outside the framework of explicit political mobilizations – in this case in the field of children’s health. This authoritarianism is enshrined in depoliticized practices, carried out under pressure and under the control of public space. The article concludes that political power has indeed been reconfigured, but with almost no change in its methods of control and repression inherited from the post-independence years, despite proven institutional weaknesses. In fact, ensuring that children under 14 years confronted with HIV/AIDS have minimum and sustainable access to basic medical and social services is not possible without a fundamental transformation in the management of public policies. The discussion falls into in two parts. The first traces the historicity of children and HIV/AIDS care policies, taking into account the context, the profile of the different actors involved and the ways in which they interact. The second part analyses how the state reproduces its authoritarian domination, despite his marginal position in HIV/AIDS policies targeting children.