Regional Balance and National Integration in Cameroon

Regional Balance and National Integration in Cameroon
Author: Paul Nchoji Nkwi
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 598
Release: 2011
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9956726265

This book presents a series of reflections by Cameroon scholars on a variety of topics associated with regional balance and national integration. The different reflections look for answers to some burning questions of the day such as: Where are we coming from? Where are we going? How are we going where we are going? Have the different state ideologies offered appropriate solutions to the quest for a strong, united, stable and prosperous nation-state? If not, what has gone wrong and why? What can be done to shape the future and accommodate the aspirations of the men and women of Cameroon and of their progeny? The book addresses the issue of national unity and national integration within the context of different political perceptions and visions. It examines the merits and demerits of the policy of regional balance of the Ahmadou Ahidjo years (1960-1982). Focus is also on the underlying flaws of this doctrine and philosophy. The debate also addresses some critical questions of the national integration policy and practices of Paul Biya, President since November 1982. The policy has failed to achieve its stated goals and has ended up in the ethnicisation and polarisation of national life. The future of the Cameroon nation-state, with its rich ethnic and cultural diversity, seems to be in jeopardy as internal forces question the management of civil society by leaders who have lost the sense of justice and equity. Why are there several voices singing the song of destitution and disappointment with the state? Have regionalism and the rhetoric of national integration and balance emerged as untenable polities within a nation-state in search of an identity and responsible leadership? These are some of the questions and issues Cameroonian and Cameroonist scholars have tried to address in this collection of 28 well-researched and outstandingly argued essays.

Regional Balance and National Integration in Cameroon

Regional Balance and National Integration in Cameroon
Author: Nchoji Nkwi
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 598
Release: 2011-09-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9956726052

This book presents a series of reflections by Cameroon scholars on a variety of topics associated with regional balance and national integration. The different reflections look for answers to some burning questions of the day such as: Where are we coming from? Where are we going? How are we going where we are going? Have the different state ideologies offered appropriate solutions to the quest for a strong, united, stable and prosperous nation-state? If not, what has gone wrong and why? What can be done to shape the future and accommodate the aspirations of the men and women of Cameroon and of their progeny? The book addresses the issue of national unity and national integration within the context of different political perceptions and visions. It examines the merits and demerits of the policy of regional balance of the Ahmadou Ahidjo years (1960-1982). Focus is also on the underlying flaws of this doctrine and philosophy. The debate also addresses some critical questions of the national integration policy and practices of Paul Biya, President since November 1982. The policy has failed to achieve its stated goals and has ended up in the ethnicisation and polarisation of national life. The future of the Cameroon nation-state, with its rich ethnic and cultural diversity, seems to be in jeopardy as internal forces question the management of civil society by leaders who have lost the sense of justice and equity. Why are there several voices singing the song of destitution and disappointment with the state? Have regionalism and the rhetoric of national integration and balance emerged as untenable polities within a nation-state in search of an identity and responsible leadership? These are some of the questions and issues Cameroonian and Cameroonist scholars have tried to address in this collection of 28 well-researched and outstandingly argued essays.

Society, State, and Identity in African History

Society, State, and Identity in African History
Author: Bahru Zewde
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 438
Release: 2008
Genre: Acculturation
ISBN: 9994450255

The Fourth Congress of the Association of African historians was held in Addis Ababa in May 2007. These 21 papers are a key selection of the papers presented there, with an introduction by the distinguished historian Bahru Zewde. Given the contemporary salience and the historical depth of the issue of identity, the congress was devoted to that global phenomenon within Africa. The papers explore and analyse the issue of identity in its diverse temporal settings, from its pre-colonial roots to its cotemporary manifestations. The papers are divided into six parts: Pre-Colonial Identities; Colonialism and Identity; Conceptions of the Nation-State and Identity; Identity-Based Conflicts; Migration and Acculturation; and Memory, History and Identity. The authors are scholars from Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Bahru Zewde is Emeritus Professor of History at Addis Ababa University, Executive Director of the Forum for Social Studies, and Vice-President of the Association of African Historians. He was formerly Chairperson of the Department of History and Director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa University. Amongst his publication is A History of Modern Ethiopia 1855-1991.

Development and the African Diaspora

Development and the African Diaspora
Author: Doctor Claire Mercer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2009-05-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1848133715

There has been much recent celebration of the success of African 'civil society' in forging global connections through an ever-growing diaspora. Against the background of such celebrations, this innovative book sheds light on the diasporic networks - 'home associations' - whose economic contributions are being used to develop home. Despite these networks being part of the flow of migrants' resources back to Africa that now outweighs official development assistance, the relationship between the flow of capital and social and political change are still poorly understood. Looking in particular at Cameroon and Tanzania, the authors examine the networks of migrants that have been created by making 'home associations' international. They argue that claims in favour of enlarging 'civil society' in Africa must be placed in the broader context of the political economy of migration and wider debates concerning ethnicity and belonging. They demonstrate both that diasporic development is distinct from mainstream development, and that it is an uneven historical process in which some 'homes' are better placed to take advantage of global connections than others. In doing so, the book engages critically with the current enthusiasm among policy-makers for treating the African diaspora as an untapped resource for combating poverty. Its focus on diasporic networks, rather than private remittances, reveals the particular successes and challenges diasporas face in acting as a group, not least in mobilising members of the diaspora to fulfill obligations to home.

The National Cake: to Bake or to Share?

The National Cake: to Bake or to Share?
Author: Akwalefo Bernadette Djeudo
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2013-11-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1491882506

In this book the reader is told that the unjust gap between the rich and the poor leading to social injustice in Cameroon and the world results from elite globalization and the reliance on the concept of sharing the National cake. The idea of baking the cake collectively and sharing it in an equitable manner so that everyone has a fair share is not known by the political and administrative culture. Consequently, Cameroonians spend more time talking about their share of the national cake instead of how to make the cake. The underlying principle of governance in Cameroon is best captured in the clause national cake. Call it public resources. Should the cake owned by everybody be baked or shared? Many politicians and administrators get lost amidst the intricacies of power and the grandeur that comes with it and feel that the national cake is only to be shared. They forget that they had made promises prior to their appointments and regard the civil service as an end rather than a means to an end. Money to them is the defining value and the primary mediator of relationships among persons and institutions. Ideals of equity are out the window and at the national and local levels, governments and citizens alike have become economic beggars and a consumer-nation has been created. Beggars dont create jobs; they take from those who have. Nothing paralyses a nation like citizens who lack a sense of mission for their country. In my opinion, Cameroonians should spend less time on politicking and more on constructive endeavors. They should be challenged, activated, motivated and transformed into nation buildings or bakers of the national cake that will be equitably shared. They should be builders of a sustainable, emerging and democratic Cameroon united in diversity. An emerging and sustainable nation refers to a nation that is embarked on a holistic development that can continue indefinitely into the future by properly addressing human, political, social, cultural, economic, ecological and spiritual dimensions of development. This author envisions a better quality of life for all Cameroonians through the development of a just, moral, creative, spiritual, economically vibrant, caring, diverse yet cohesive society characterized by appropriate productivity, participatory and democratic processes, and living in harmony within the limits of the carrying capacity of nature and the integrity of creation. In Part one of this book therefore, this author describes the problems affecting the process of baking and sharing the national cake in Cameroon as reflected in neopatrimonialistic and clientelistic ties. In Part two, the author carries out an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country, including technical personnel, and investigate the possibilities of augmenting these resources if found to be deficient in relation to the nation's requirements. This part also indicate the factors which are tending to retard economic and sustainable development, and determine the conditions which, in view of the current social and political situation, should be established for the successful execution of President Biyas major ambitions and accomplishment programme. The discussion framework in this part follows the seven dimensions of development: spiritual, human, social, cultura, political, economic and ecological. In Part three of the book, a complementary Plan to the Cameroon Vision 2035 that will lead to the most effective and balanced utilisation of the country's resources in making the national cake is formulated and the nature of the machinery which will be necessary for securing the successful implementation and financing of the plan is determined.

Mobile Africa

Mobile Africa
Author: Rijk van Dijk
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2021-07-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004492208

This anthology deals with the complexity, variety and experience of all the forms of mobility we witness today in Sub-Saharan Africa. Three sets of issues are being discussed. First, the concept of mobility itself is considered and how it is conceived of in distinction from sedentarity. Second, which forms of mobility can be distinguished, not only from the perspective of Western social sciences, but also from the perspective of people's own experiences, ideas, notions, etc? Social science in Africa has particularly focused on rural-urban migration, but it is clear that there are many other forms as well. Third, the concept of mobility concerns not only geographical space, but there are other 'spaces' to consider as well. In addition to 'forms of mobility' there is a 'mobility of forms' in which the perception of those other spaces plays a crucial role. In short, the book intends to turn the whole notion of mobility as a supposedly rupturing phenomenon on its head, emphasizing that rather through travelling connections are established and continuity is experienced. We are challenged to delve into the traveller's mind, to think and follow their multi-spatial livelihoods and to explore what it means to people if they move in a variety of spaces.

Elites and the Politics of Accountability in Africa

Elites and the Politics of Accountability in Africa
Author: Wale Adebanwi
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 425
Release: 2021-05-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0472128736

Elites and the Politics of Accountability in Africa examines the ways that accountability offers an effective interpretive lens to the social, cultural, and institutional struggles of both the elites and ordinary citizens in Africa. Each chapter investigates questions of power, its public deliberation, and its negotiation in Africa by studying elites through the framework of accountability. The book enters conversations about political subjectivity and agency, especially from ongoing struggles around identities and belonging, as well as representation and legitimacy. Who speaks to whom? And on whose behalf do they speak? The contributors to this volume offer careful analyses of how such concerns are embedded in wider forms of cultural, social, and institutional discussions about transparency, collective responsibility, community, and public decision-making processes. These concerns affect prospects for democratic oversight, as well as questions of alienation, exclusivity, privilege and democratic deficit. The book situates our understanding of the emergence, meaning, and conceptual relevance of elite accountability, to study political practices in Africa. It then juxtaposes this contextualization of accountability in relation to the practices of African elites. Elites and the Politics of Accountability in Africa offers fresh, dynamic, and multifarious accounts of elites and their practices of accountability and locally plausible self-legitimation, as well as illuminating accounts of contemporary African elites in relation to their socially and historicallysituated outcomes of contingency, composition, negotiation, and compromise.

Neoliberal Bandwagonism. Civil society and the politics of belonging in Anglophone Cameroon

Neoliberal Bandwagonism. Civil society and the politics of belonging in Anglophone Cameroon
Author: Piet Konings
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2009-11-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9956716375

Civil society and empowerment have become buzz words in neoliberal development discourse. Yet many unanswered questions remain on the actual nature and configuration assumed by civil society in specific contexts. Typically, while neoliberals perceive civil-society organisations as vital intermediary channels for the successful implementation of desired economic and political reforms, they are inclined to blame the current resurgence of the politics of belonging for the poor record of these reforms in Africa and elsewhere. This book rejects such notions and argues that the relationship between civil society and the politics of belonging is more complex in Africa than western donors and scholars are willing to admit. Konings argues that ethno-regional associations and movements are even more significant constituents of civil society in Africa than the conventional civil-society organisations that are often uncritically imposed or endorsed. He convincingly shows how the politics of belonging, so pervasive in Cameroon, and indeed much of Africa, during the current neoliberal economic and political reforms, has tended to penetrate the entire range of associational life. This calls for a critical re-appraisal of prevalent notions and assumptions about civil society in the interest of African reality. Hence the importance of this book!

Political Philosophies and Nation-Building in Cameroon

Political Philosophies and Nation-Building in Cameroon
Author: Andrew, Aseh
Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2016-10-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 9956763446

This is a comprehensive text on the function of thought in the history and political sociology of Cameroon. The book brings out how the “hidden hand of history” fashions a political thought which, in turn, creates its own history. Instead of Cameroonians making history, history makes Cameroonians. The book shows how political ideas are fashioned in a post-colonial context in which Europeans impose a superordinate arrangement on a people together with its philosophers. “Thinking the nation” in Cameroon on behalf of Europeans, especially after the leaders of the national liberation struggle were all eliminated, European philosophers put in place a “repressive machine” under which Cameroonians were subjected between 1958 and 1990. Repression gave way to a refined form of enslavement – a modernised version of slavery. Cameroonians joined the bandwagon and have been producing and reproducing Western industrial economies while day-dreaming of what they will never become. The whole idea of nation-building in post-colonial Africa is put in question. This book offers students of political studies, sociology, anthropology and history compelling evidence to grapple with questions as to whether Cameroon is a state or a nation and questions of sovereignty and citizenship.

The Paradoxes of Self-determination in the Cameroons Under United Kingdom Administration

The Paradoxes of Self-determination in the Cameroons Under United Kingdom Administration
Author: Bongfen Chem-Langhëë
Publisher: University Press of America
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780761825043

This volume deals essentially with the rise and evolution of the nationalist movements in the British Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons (the Cameroons), the factors that conditioned those movements, and how and why their results came to be as they were.