Madagascar 1972 : l'autre indépendance

The events of May 1972 in Madagascar revealed the superficiality of the Independence proclaimed in 1960. The ruling party was formed by local elites, while political, social and cultural life in the Great Island was still strongly influenced by French power and its intervention through various cooperation agreements. The higher education system was a case in point. It was in the schools and universities that a nationalist movement had been born, then joined in support by the rest of the population. But the system was characterized by profound social, political and ethnic gaps which divided Malagasy society – gaps which were a legacy of colonial domination. Forms of rebellion and languages of mobilization in 1972 underline the effort to attain a real independence – one freed from all forms of neo-colonialism. Abstract: Les evenements de mai 1972 a Madagascar revelent le caractere inacheve de l’independance proclamee en 1960. Le parti au pouvoir est issu des elites coloniales tan-dis que la vie politique, sociale et cultu-relle de la Grande Ile reste etroitement liee a l’in uence et a l’interventionnisme de la France a travers les accords de coo-peration, comme l’illustre la situation de l’enseignement superieur. C’est dans les ecoles et les universites que nait un mouvement de contestation, rejoint par le reste de la population, qui revele la profondeur et le poids des divisions ethniques et sociales nees de la periode coloniale. Les formes de la contestation et les langages de la mobilisation con_rment cet effort pour atteindre une vraie independance, debarrassee du neo-colonialisme.