Abstract :
[en] West African societies are currently undergoing profound social transformations that are
reshaping authority relations, identities, and gender norms. Among the Moose of Burkina
Faso, these changes create tensions between traditional frameworks rooted in chieftaincy,
generational hierarchies, and customary norms, and the contemporary aspirations of younger
generations.
This paper examines how gender roles are being challenged, negotiated, and reinvented
within different Moose social settings. Based on qualitative research conducted in several
localities in Burkina Faso, the study explores the experiences of young women and men
confronted with social expectations related to marriage, authority, work, social success, and
emerging forms of autonomy. Educational, professional, and digital trajectories appear as
important spaces for redefining identities and gender relations.
Drawing on gender anthropology as well as African feminist and decolonial perspectives, this
reflection highlights the tensions between cultural continuity and social innovation. It argues
that ongoing transformations do not represent either a complete break from tradition or a
uniform adherence to contemporary models, but rather continuous processes of negotiation,
resistance, and adaptation.
The analysis also shows that young people are becoming central actors in current social
reconfigurations. Through their everyday practices, resilience strategies, and symbolic forms
of expression, they contribute to redefining norms of femininity, masculinity, and social
legitimacy within contemporary Moose society.
