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Cultivating Moral Citizenship
Jude D. Fokwang
228 Pages | 6 x 9 | © 2023
ISBN: 9781957296029 (Hardback)
ISBN: 9781957296012 (Paperback)
ISBN: 9781957296036 (eBook)
In Cultivating Moral Citizenship, ethnographer, Jude Fokwang unpacks the meanings, mechanisms and processes through which young people in an inner city of the West African nation of Cameroon respond to local and global challenges as they seek to position themselves as social adults. Faced with the decline of old predictabilities, the diminishing capacity of the postcolonial state to control its destiny and the precarity of waithood, young people instrumentalise the opportunities and resources afforded by associations to build reciprocal relationships that advance their individual and collective pursuits in a community that has increasingly become transnational. In positioning themselves as moral actors, the young people in this ethnography invest in high profile social and communal projects, including the enforcement of moral orthodoxies that enable readers to appreciate the ways in which moral citizenship is engendered, expanded and eroded simultaneously.
Mediating Legitimacy
This study analyses the effects of democratic transition in two African countries - Cameroon and South Africa - on chiefs and the institution of chieftainship. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the monograph explores the cultural and socio-political conditions that enabled chiefs to reinvent themselves in the new era of democratic politics despite their status as 'old political actors'. It explores the kinds of legitimacies claimed by chiefs in the new era and the responses of their subjects to such claims, particularly with respect to chiefs' involvement in national politics. The monograph makes a case for the importance of comparative research on chiefs in the era of democracy and the predicaments they face therein. It contends that contrary to exhortations about the incompatibility of chiefs and democracy, the reality is that political transition in both South Africa and Cameroon produced contradictions, creating space and a role for chiefs in a fascinating and negotiated interplay of legitimacies and history.
Society and Change in Bali Nyonga
Contemporary Bali Nyonga is a rapidly growing town of over 80,000 in habitants, sixteen kilometres southwest of Bamenda, the capital of the North West region, Cameroon. If Cameroon has been aptly referred to in many circles as Africa in miniature, then Bali Nyonga, since its founding in the mid 19th century is emblematic of this so-called ‘multicultural’ region. This book is about change in Bali Nyonga, but it is also about change in a typical postcolonial African setting grappling with a challenging new world reality. It aims to provide cutting-edge analyses of cultural change in Bali as well as inspire a new kind of scholarship in the Cameroon Grasslands – championed by indigenous intellectuals. The contributors to this volume come from diverse academic backgrounds and as will be evident in the various chapters, their disciplinary perspectives have largely shaped their approaches to the topics under study. Hence, this book draws on anthropological, theological, literary and media studies perspective.
Something New in Old Town
Set in the sprawling community of Old Town, the cradle of the modern city of Bamenda (Cameroon), Something New in Old Town explores a unique approach to grassroots development and communal empowerment. This intimate documentary, filmed over three years in the homes, streets and work places of Old Town, takes us into the world of dozens of committed young men and women who strive to change their community as “searchers” of solutions to the manifold problems that beset young people and the urban environment in many African cities. Through their charitable acts, hygiene campaigns and commitment to grassroots development, they build and impart hope in a community that bears the scars of a chequered history.
The Mungaka Alphabet Workbook
Jude Fokwang & Godlove Gwaabe
100 Pages | 8 x 10 x .20 | © 2020
ISBN: 9781942876649 (Paperback)
This workbook synthesizes materials we have developed since the initiation of an online course on elementary Mungaka. It is intended to provide users with a deeper understanding of the new Mungaka alphabet, its sounds and other basic writing conventions. Although it is prepared with a Mungaka 101 learner in mind, the book could be useful for individuals who have never taken a course in the new alphabet. We have therefore aimed to provide the reader with a broad but elementary material that will enable them to master the essentials of the Mungaka alphabet and how to use them in everyday written and spoken contexts.
The New Mungaka Alphabet for Beginners
This primer of 29 alphabets and sound combinations that make up the modern Mungaka language is a much-welcome addition to the instructional needs of indigenous languages in Africa. First time learners as well as seasoned speakers of Mungaka will find this book very easy to navigate given its simple layout, large print and colorful illustrations. The Kindle Edition is interactive and equipped with audio to expedite the learning process. This book is the first in a series of educational materials that aim to revitalize and accelerate the pace of Mungaka’s status as a language of literacy in the Cameroon Grassfields and beyond.