Chieftaincy Politics and the Explosion of the Anglophone (Ambazonian) Crisis in Cameroon
2 Nov 2025

Chieftaincy Politics and the Explosion of the Anglophone (Ambazonian) Crisis in Cameroon

by | posted in: Cameroon Studies, Grassfields Studies, Political Anthropology | 0

This chapter is a continuation of my efforts to investigate and elaborate on the intercalary position of traditional rulers in Africa, specifically those in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon (Fokwang, 2005, 2009, 2011). Many scholars and activists continue to see traditional rulers as ‘decentralized despots’ (Mamdani, 1996) with little to offer other than acting as brokers for political capital between an unpopular centralized state machinery and a largely dispossessed rural peasantry (Fisiy, 1995; Jua, 1995).

On Freedom and Sovereignty: Personal Reflections
25 Jun 2020

On Freedom and Sovereignty: Personal Reflections

by | posted in: Ethnographic Film, Ethnography & Methods, Languages & Ethnolinguistics, Political Anthropology | 0

In this short video, I share with Jean-Marie Tieno, a legendary Cameroonian filmmaker – my thoughts on Freedom and the concept of Sovereignty in Africa. The filmmakers were interested in learning how the concept of freedom is expressed in African languages.

The Cultural Diffusion and Analysis of a Symbol Complex
11 May 2020

The Cultural Diffusion and Analysis of a Symbol Complex

by | posted in: Anthropology of Religion, Book Reviews, Cameroon Studies, Grassfields Studies, Political Anthropology | 1

In his book, Lela in Bali: History through Ceremony in Cameroon (2006), anthropologist, Richard Fardon contends that Lela could be understood as a “barometer of the state of play in Bali politics: a ceremony that has adjusted to reflect the changing composition and external relations of the community” (2, italics mine). To extend this argument, it’s absence over several consecutive years could also index the state of politics – one that shows the growing dissonance between the ruled and the rulers.