Economic Disobedience and Alternative Economies: The Role of Boycotts and Informal Trade Networks in Contesting State Authority in Cameroon’s North West Region

In this study, I examine economic disobedience as a potent form of resistance within the North West Region of Cameroon, where targeted boycotts and informal trade networks actively challenge the authority of the central state. Drawing on fieldwork conducted from March to June 2023 in key areas of the North West Region of Cameroon, focusing on economic disobedience and informal trade, in-depth interviews, and local financial data analysis, this paper adopts an analytical framework rooted in the theories of monetary sovereignty and resistance economies as articulated by Scott (1985) and Bayart (1993). This approach illuminates how communities in this region mobilize economic defiance in response to perceived state neglect and governance inadequacies.The findings reveal that boycotts against enterprises and commodities associated with the state have evolved from spontaneous acts of dissent into organized economic strategies that serve as symbolic rejections of state control. These boycotts represent a calculated form of economic independence, manifesting as a collective, politicized decision to withdraw participation from economic channels regulated by the state, which local actors perceive as oppressive. Furthermore, the research sheds light on the role of informal trade networks, especially those facilitating cross-border transactions with Nigeria, as alternative economic systems that bypass official state mechanisms. Such networks effectively mitigate critical supply shortages, circumvent state-imposed tariffs and taxes, and undermine the government’s regulatory influence over the region’s economy.These forms of economic disobedience expand upon the notion of resistance economies (Scott, 1985; Bayart, 1993), framing "economic disobedience" as intentional acts of defiance that assert economic sovereignty and agency, thereby undermining state authority and destabilizing formal economic systems within the region. While rooted in pragmatic economic responses to state marginalization, this defiance enhances the fragility of state power in areas where informal economies are deeply embedded, and formal compliance remains insubstantial. These findings invite a reconsideration of economic governance approaches in politically contested regions, demonstrating that alternative economies and systematic disobedience not only disrupt formal economic structures but also empower marginalized communities to re-envision their economic agency and autonomy. Thus, this study makes a substantive contribution to the discourse on resistance economies, illustrating how economic dissent can destabilize state structures and redefine local conceptions of authority and independence. It also advances defiant scholarship in Africa by highlighting grassroots economic resistance as a reimagining of agency and power in postcolonial contexts.