Parents, private schools, and the politics of an emerging civil society in Cameroon

Journal of Modern African Studies

Volumn 34, Issue 4, 1996, Pages 609-622

  Boyle, Patrick M ^a  

^a LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CIVIL SOCIETY; CLASS; EDUCATION POLICY; PRIVATE EDUCATION;

CAMEROON;

EID: 0030420276     PISSN: 0022278X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0022278x00055798     Document Type: Article

References (63)

1. Ellen Meiksins Wood, 'The Uses and Abuses of "Civil Society"', in Ralph Miliband and Leo Panitch (eds.), The Retreat of the Intellectuals. Socialist Register, 1990 (London, 1990),
2. cited in Robert Fatton, Jr., Predatory Rule: state and civil society in Africa (Boulder and London, 1992), p. 18.
3. René Lemarchand, 'Uncivil States and Civil Societies: how illusion became reality', in The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge), 30, 2, June 1992, p. 178, observes that civil society can be 'converted... into a conservative ideology, or legitimising myth, in defence of the state. Or, conversely, it can provide the basis for a logic of political action directed against the state'.
4. According to recent census data 40 per cent of Cameroonians over the age of 11 are illiterate. Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé), 13 March 1991.
5. Aristide Zolberg, 'The Structure of Political Conflict in the New States of Africa', in American Political Science Review (Washington, DC), 62, March 1968, p. 70.
6. See, for example, Dwayne Woods, 'Civil Society in Europe and Africa : limiting state power through a public sphere', in African Studies Review (Atlanta), 35, 2, September 1992, pp. 77-100, and Michael Bratton and Nicolas van de Walle, 'Neopatrimonial Regimes and Political Transitions in Africa', in World Politics (Princeton), 46, July 1994, pp. 435-89.
7. See, for example, Dwayne Woods, 'Civil Society in Europe and Africa : limiting state power through a public sphere', in African Studies Review (Atlanta), 35, 2, September 1992, pp. 77-100, and Michael Bratton and Nicolas van de Walle, 'Neopatrimonial Regimes and Political Transitions in Africa', in World Politics (Princeton), 46, July 1994, pp. 435-89.
8. Richard L. Sklar, 'The Nature of Class Domination in Africa', in The Journal of Modern African Studies, 17, 4, December 1979, pp. 531-52.
9. See, for example, Michael G. Schatzberg, Politics and Class in Zaire: bureaucracy, business, and beer in Lisala (New York, 1980), and Thomas M. Callaghy, The State-Society Struggle: Zaire in comparative perspective (New York, 1984).
10. See, for example, Michael G. Schatzberg, Politics and Class in Zaire: bureaucracy, business, and beer in Lisala (New York, 1980), and Thomas M. Callaghy, The State-Society Struggle: Zaire in comparative perspective (New York, 1984).
11. David E. Apter and Carl G. Rosberg, 'Changing African Perspectives', in Apter and Rosberg (eds.), Political Development and the New Realism in Sub-Saharan Africa (Charlottesville and London, 1994), p. 32.
12. Ali A. Mazrui, Political Values and the Educated Class in Africa (London, 1978), pp. xiii and 197.
13. David E. Apter, The Politics of Modernization (Chicago, 1965), p. 72.
14. Mwenene Mukweso, George J. Papagiannis, and Sande Milton, 'Educational and Occupational Attainment from Generation to Generation: the case of Zaire', in Comparative Education Review (Chicago), 28, February 1984, pp. 52-68.
15. Archibald Callaway, 'Unemployment Among African School Leavers', in The Journal of Modern African Studies, 1, 3, September 1963, pp. 351-71, and Samuel P. Huntington, 'Political Development and Political Decay', in World Politics, 17, 3, April 1965, pp. 386-430.
16. Archibald Callaway, 'Unemployment Among African School Leavers', in The Journal of Modern African Studies, 1, 3, September 1963, pp. 351-71, and Samuel P. Huntington, 'Political Development and Political Decay', in World Politics, 17, 3, April 1965, pp. 386-430.
17. Roy A. Carr-Hill, Social Conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa (London, 1991), p. 100.
18. Several African states formally incorporated into their constitutions Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which reads: 'Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.' UN Department of Public Information, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (New York, 1948), p. 13.
19. Crawford Young and Thomas Turner, The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State (Madison, 1985), pp. 134-5 and 402. See also, V. P. Diejomaoh and E. C. Anusionwu, 'Education and Income Distribution in Nigeria', in Henry Bienen and Diejomaoh (eds.), The Political Economy of Income Distribution in Nigeria (New York, 1981), pp. 320-31.
20. Crawford Young and Thomas Turner, The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State (Madison, 1985), pp. 134-5 and 402. See also, V. P. Diejomaoh and E. C. Anusionwu, 'Education and Income Distribution in Nigeria', in Henry Bienen and Diejomaoh (eds.), The Political Economy of Income Distribution in Nigeria (New York, 1981), pp. 320-31.
21. Philip Foster, 'The Education Policies of Postcolonial States', in Lascelles Anderson and Douglas Windham (eds.), Education and Development: issues in the analysis and planning of postcolonial states (Lexington, MA, 1982), p. 9.
22. Philip Foster, 'Education and Social Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa', in The Journal of Modern African Studies, 18, 2, June 1980, pp. 214 and 210.
23. Carr-Hill, op. cit. p. 98.
24. World Bank, Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: policies for adjustment, revitalization, and expansion (Washington, DC, 1988), pp. x and 6.
25. Patrick M. Boyle, 'The Politics of Education in Zaire', Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1991.
26. See Jean-François Bayart, 'Civil Society in Africa', in Patrick Chabal (ed.), Political Domination in Africa: reflections on the limits of power (Cambridge, 1986), pp. 109-25, and Mehran Kamrava, 'Conceptualising Third World Politics: the state-society see-saw', in Third World Quarterly (Abingdon), 14, 4, November 1993, pp. 703-16.
27. See Jean-François Bayart, 'Civil Society in Africa', in Patrick Chabal (ed.), Political Domination in Africa: reflections on the limits of power (Cambridge, 1986), pp. 109-25, and Mehran Kamrava, 'Conceptualising Third World Politics: the state-society see-saw', in Third World Quarterly (Abingdon), 14, 4, November 1993, pp. 703-16.
28. Crawford Young, 'The Democratization in Africa: the contradictions of a political imperative', in Jennifer A. Widner (ed), Economic Change and Political Liberalization in Sub-Saharan Africa (Baltimore and London, 1994), p. 242.
29. Jean L. Cohen and Andrew Abato, Civil Society and Political Theory (Cambridge, MA, 1991), p. 16.
30. Joel D. Barkan argues this point in 'Resurrecting Modernization Theory and the Emergence of Civil Society in Kenya and Nigeria', in Apter and Rosberg (eds.), op. cit. pp. 87-116.
31. Bratton and van de Walle, loc. cit. p. 462.
32. Adam B. Seligman, The Idea of Civil Society (New York, 1992), pp. x and 31.
33. Gianfranco Poggi, The Development of the Modem State: a sociological introduction (Stanford, 1978), pp. 71 and 81.
34. Richard Crook, 'State, Society and Political Institutions in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana', in James Manor (ed.), Rethinking Third World Politics (London, 1991), p. 215.
35. Fatton, op. cit. p. 75.
36. André Franqueville, Yaoundé: construire une capitale (Paris, 1984), p. 14.
37. Isabelle Verdier, 'Les Mutations de la capitale administrative et politique', in Marchés tropicaux et méditerranéens (Paris), 2331, 13 July 1990, p. 2071.
38. Ibid. p. 2072, and Jacques Alibert, 'Bilan et perspective de la politique de stabilisation: le Cameroon à l'heure de l'ajustement', in ibid. 2457, 11 December 1992, p. 3287.
39. Ibid. p. 2072, and Jacques Alibert, 'Bilan et perspective de la politique de stabilisation: le Cameroon à l'heure de l'ajustement', in ibid. 2457, 11 December 1992, p. 3287.
40. In Cameroon the funds allocated to education by the central government dropped from earlier levels of 20-30 per cent to just 12 per cent in the 1986-90 period. The country's expenditure in this category corresponds to the average for sub-Saharan Africa. Unicef, The State of the World's Children, 1994 (New York, 1994), Table 6, p. 74.
41. Jean Zoa, 'Le Problème est philosophique et politique', in L'Effort camerounais (Yaoundé), 37, 975, April 1991, p. 16.
42. Franqueville, op. cit. p. 138.
43. World Bank, 'Project Outline. National Private Education Development Fund, Preparation Mission, Yaoundé, Cameroon, Draft for Discussion, February 24, 1993', Washington, DC, p. 1.
44. Recent legislation dividing the capital into six arrondissements does not change the size of Yaoundé II. République fédérale du Cameroon, 'Décret 92/187 du 1 er septembre 1992'.
45. Franqueville, op. cit. p. 39.
46. A reasonable 61 per cent of school directors participated in consultations in 1994. No attempts were made to verify information or to make a qualitative assessment of instruction.
47. Solomon Shu, 'Education in Cameroon', in A. Babs Fafunwa and J. U. Aisiku '(eds.), Education in Africa : a comparative study (London, 1982), p. 47, and 'Cameroon', in Africa South of the Sahara, 1994 (London, 1993), p. 234.
48. Solomon Shu, 'Education in Cameroon', in A. Babs Fafunwa and J. U. Aisiku '(eds.), Education in Africa : a comparative study (London, 1982), p. 47, and 'Cameroon', in Africa South of the Sahara, 1994 (London, 1993), p. 234.
49. National Union of Cameroonian Students (UK), Education Committee Report, Section 8, Article 1. Convention of Culture and Maturity, University of Keele, 3 July 1992.
50. World Bank, op. cit. p. 2.
51. 'Rencontre des directeurs et principaux de l'enseignement catholique : qu'advienne la justice scolaire?', in L'Effort camerounais, 37, 975, April 1991, p. 10, and Archidiocèse de Yaoundé, 'Les Taux de scolarité pour 1993-1994', 7 May 1993.
52. 'Rencontre des directeurs et principaux de l'enseignement catholique : qu'advienne la justice scolaire?', in L'Effort camerounais, 37, 975, April 1991, p. 10, and Archidiocèse de Yaoundé, 'Les Taux de scolarité pour 1993-1994', 7 May 1993.
53. Secrétariat permanent de l'enseignement catholique, 'Tous ensemble sauvons l'école catholique', Yaoundé, May 1992.
54. Parents d'élèves du primaire des écoles catholiques de l'Archidiocèse de Yaoundé, 'Lettre à Son Excellence le Premier Ministre, le 23 juin 1993'.
55. Ministère de l'éducation nationale, Lettre-circulaire du 23 septembre 1992.
56. Franqueville, op. cit. p. 7.
57. World Bank, 'Project Outline', p. 2.
58. Republic of Cameroon, Sixth Five-Year Economic, Social, and Cultural Development Plan, 1986-1991 (Yaoundé, 1986), p. 199.
59. Emile Le Bris, 'Crise urbaine et effets urbains de la crise : le cas de l'Afrique noire', in Espaces et société: revue scientifique internationale (Paris), 65, 1991, p. 67.
60. Bruno Dujardin, 'Mission: développement des soins de santé primaire en milieu urbain'. Yaoundé: World Bank, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cameroon and the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Anvers. November 1991 to February 1992, p. 86.
61. Alibert, loc. cit. p. 3287.
62. Benoît Mougoue, 'Yaounde: quelles perspectives de développement?', in Marchés tropicaux et méditerranéens, 2331, 13 July 1990, p. 2090.
63. Kwame Anthony Appiah, In My Father's House: Africa in the philosophy of culture (Oxford and New York, 1992), pp. 169-70, explains that local organisations in Kumasi in the 1980s were increasingly 'becoming more and more central in organizing the financing, building, staffing, and equipping of schools; in supporting the city hospital; and working, often in combination with each other and the leaders of the Moslem community and the Catholic archbishop'. In the last decade and a half, according to Appiah, the churches and some of these organisations were 'taking over functions formerly reserved to the government and... they were doing so in circumstances where state officials were only too keen to have their aid'.