« Les idoles du temps présent » : nouveaux « paradigmes » et imaginaires de la réussite sociale chez les jeunes citadins au Cameroun »

This paper is a reflection on the figureheads of success which, since
the first half of the 1990s in Cameroon, have appeared to be indicative
of social promotion in the imaginations of youths. Direct observations
and interviews were conducted to collect information. Findings indicate
that youths, mostly trapped in a situation in which they were parachuted
by a multidimensional crisis, affiliate themselves to accumulation
archetypes, thus breaking away, in some instances, with classical
references. The paradigms they mostly adhere to are mainly those relating
to fun and easy profits as they are considered by youths as likely to
enable them to occupy upper rungs on the Cameroonian social ladder