Social movement struggles against the high cost of living in Burkina Faso

Abstract

In reaction to the global food price crisis, people marched in the streets of numerous cities of the Global South, protesting against unaffordable prices for foodstuffs. This article investigates the conditions that enabled this mobilisation. It analyses the case of Burkina Faso, where protests were particularly intense. Building on approaches from social movement studies, it is argued that in Burkina Faso, temporal political opportunities (the price crisis opening up a window of opportunity) and dynamic politico-institutional structures (“cycles of contention”), in combination with social movements’ organisational resources, explain the way the price issue was framed and why mobilisation was possible.