African rural entrepreneurs and labor in the Cameroon littoral

Journal of African History

Volumn 40, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 109-126

  Eckert, Andreas ^a  

^a HUMBOLDT UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AGRICULTURAL HISTORY; ENTREPRENEUR; HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE; RURAL AREA;

CAMEROON;

EID: 0032991104     PISSN: 00218537     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0021853798007385     Document Type: Article

References (124)

1. See Sara Berry, No Condition is Permanent: The Social Dynamics of Agrarian Change in Sub-Saharan Africa (Madison, 1993), 135-8.
2. Good examples of recent scholarship are Stephen Ellis and Yves-A. Fauré (eds.), Entreprises et entrepreneurs africains (Paris, 1995); Tom Forrest, The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise (Edinburgh, 1994); Bruce J. Berman and Colin Leys (eds.), African Capitalists in African Development (Boulder and London, 1994). The older literature is examined by Anthony G. Hopkins, 'African entrepreneurship: an essay on the relevance of history to development economies', Genève-Afrique, 26 (1988), 7-28.
3. Good examples of recent scholarship are Stephen Ellis and Yves-A. Fauré (eds.), Entreprises et entrepreneurs africains (Paris, 1995); Tom Forrest, The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise (Edinburgh, 1994); Bruce J. Berman and Colin Leys (eds.), African Capitalists in African Development (Boulder and London, 1994). The older literature is examined by Anthony G. Hopkins, 'African entrepreneurship: an essay on the relevance of history to development economies', Genève-Afrique, 26 (1988), 7-28.
4. Good examples of recent scholarship are Stephen Ellis and Yves-A. Fauré (eds.), Entreprises et entrepreneurs africains (Paris, 1995); Tom Forrest, The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise (Edinburgh, 1994); Bruce J. Berman and Colin Leys (eds.), African Capitalists in African Development (Boulder and London, 1994). The older literature is examined by Anthony G. Hopkins, 'African entrepreneurship: an essay on the relevance of history to development economies', Genève-Afrique, 26 (1988), 7-28.
5. Good examples of recent scholarship are Stephen Ellis and Yves-A. Fauré (eds.), Entreprises et entrepreneurs africains (Paris, 1995); Tom Forrest, The Advance of African Capital: The Growth of Nigerian Private Enterprise (Edinburgh, 1994); Bruce J. Berman and Colin Leys (eds.), African Capitalists in African Development (Boulder and London, 1994). The older literature is examined by Anthony G. Hopkins, 'African entrepreneurship: an essay on the relevance of history to development economies', Genève-Afrique, 26 (1988), 7-28.
6. Sara Berry, Fathers Work for their Sons: Accumulation, Mobility and Class Formation in an Extended Yoruba Community (Berkeley, 1985). The unproductive forms of social investment are also underlined in Laurence Marfaing, L'évolution du commerce au Sénégal, 1820-1930 (Paris, 1991); Leonhard Harding, 'Faszination afrikanische Geschichte: Afrikanische Händler zwischen Gesellschaft und Geschäft', Historische Zeitschrift, 255 (1992), 317-44.
7. Sara Berry, Fathers Work for their Sons: Accumulation, Mobility and Class Formation in an Extended Yoruba Community (Berkeley, 1985). The unproductive forms of social investment are also underlined in Laurence Marfaing, L'évolution du commerce au Sénégal, 1820-1930 (Paris, 1991); Leonhard Harding, 'Faszination afrikanische Geschichte: Afrikanische Händler zwischen Gesellschaft und Geschäft', Historische Zeitschrift, 255 (1992), 317-44.
8. Sara Berry, Fathers Work for their Sons: Accumulation, Mobility and Class Formation in an Extended Yoruba Community (Berkeley, 1985). The unproductive forms of social investment are also underlined in Laurence Marfaing, L'évolution du commerce au Sénégal, 1820-1930 (Paris, 1991); Leonhard Harding, 'Faszination afrikanische Geschichte: Afrikanische Händler zwischen Gesellschaft und Geschäft', Historische Zeitschrift, 255 (1992), 317-44.
9. John Iliffe, The Emergence of African Capitalism (London, 1981).
10. Tom McCaskie, 'Accumulation, wealth and belief in Asante history, Part II: the 20th century', Africa, 56 (1986), 3-23.
11. Jean-François Bayart, L'état en Afrique: la politique du ventre (Paris, 1989).
12. See Fernand Braudel, Economie et capitalisme, XV-XVIIIème siècle: les jeux de l'échange (3 vols.) (Paris, 1979), ii, 181-3.
13. Jean-Pierre Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise au Cameroun (Paris, 1993). A critique on Warnier is offered by Janet Roitman, 'Queries on cultural capitalism', Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 35 (1995), 629-45. Rejoinders by Warnier, 'Pour une anthropologie de la subjectivité', and Peter Geschiere and Piet Konings, 'Empirical studies and conceptual dilemmas', idem, 925-6, 927-8.
14. Jean-Pierre Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise au Cameroun (Paris, 1993). A critique on Warnier is offered by Janet Roitman, 'Queries on cultural capitalism', Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 35 (1995), 629-45. Rejoinders by Warnier, 'Pour une anthropologie de la subjectivité', and Peter Geschiere and Piet Konings, 'Empirical studies and conceptual dilemmas', idem, 925-6, 927-8.
15. Jean-Pierre Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise au Cameroun (Paris, 1993). A critique on Warnier is offered by Janet Roitman, 'Queries on cultural capitalism', Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 35 (1995), 629-45. Rejoinders by Warnier, 'Pour une anthropologie de la subjectivité', and Peter Geschiere and Piet Konings, 'Empirical studies and conceptual dilemmas', idem, 925-6, 927-8.
16. Jean-Pierre Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise au Cameroun (Paris, 1993). A critique on Warnier is offered by Janet Roitman, 'Queries on cultural capitalism', Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 35 (1995), 629-45. Rejoinders by Warnier, 'Pour une anthropologie de la subjectivité', and Peter Geschiere and Piet Konings, 'Empirical studies and conceptual dilemmas', idem, 925-6, 927-8.
17. Note that 'Duala' is used to refer to the ethnic group, 'Douala' to the city.
18. For the history of pre-colonial Duala society, see, among others: Albert Wirz, 'La "rivière du Cameroun": commerce précolonial et contrôle du pouvoir en société lignagère', Revue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-mer, 60 (1973), 172-95; Ralph A. Austen, 'The metamorphosis of middlemen: the Duala, Europeans and the Cameroon hinterland, c. 1800-c. 1960', International Journal of African Historical Studies, 16 (1983), 1-24; Ralph A. Austen and Jonathan Derrick, Middlemen of the Cameroon Rivers: The Duala and their Hinterland, c.1600-c.1960 (forthcoming). I am grateful to Ralph Austen for giving me access to the unpublished manuscript.
19. For the history of pre-colonial Duala society, see, among others: Albert Wirz, 'La "rivière du Cameroun": commerce précolonial et contrôle du pouvoir en société lignagère', Revue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-mer, 60 (1973), 172-95; Ralph A. Austen, 'The metamorphosis of middlemen: the Duala, Europeans and the Cameroon hinterland, c. 1800-c. 1960', International Journal of African Historical Studies, 16 (1983), 1-24; Ralph A. Austen and Jonathan Derrick, Middlemen of the Cameroon Rivers: The Duala and their Hinterland, c.1600-c.1960 (forthcoming). I am grateful to Ralph Austen for giving me access to the unpublished manuscript.
20. For the history of pre-colonial Duala society, see, among others: Albert Wirz, 'La "rivière du Cameroun": commerce précolonial et contrôle du pouvoir en société lignagère', Revue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-mer, 60 (1973), 172-95; Ralph A. Austen, 'The metamorphosis of middlemen: the Duala, Europeans and the Cameroon hinterland, c. 1800-c. 1960', International Journal of African Historical Studies, 16 (1983), 1-24; Ralph A. Austen and Jonathan Derrick, Middlemen of the Cameroon Rivers: The Duala and their Hinterland, c.1600-c.1960 (forthcoming). I am grateful to Ralph Austen for giving me access to the unpublished manuscript.
21. See Manga Bekombo, 'Conflits d'autorité au sein de la société familiale chez les Duala du sud-Cameroun', Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 4 (1963), 317-29.
22. This system has been described and analyzed in detail by Austen and Derrick, Middlemen, chs. 2 and 3.
23. Ralph A. Austen, 'Slavery among coastal middlemen: the Duala of Cameroon', in Suzanne Miers and Igor Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Questions (Madison, 1977), 313. A slightly revised version of this article, entitled 'Slavery and slave trade on the Atlantic coast: the Duala of the littoral', was published in Paideuma, 41 (1995), 127-50. Austen's paper is the best account on Duala slavery published to date. See more generally, Andreas Eckert, 'Slavery in colonial Cameroon, 1880s to 1930s', Slavery and Abolition, 19 (1998), special issue on 'Slavery and colonial rule in Africa', Martin Klein and Suzanne Miers (eds.), 133-48.
24. Ralph A. Austen, 'Slavery among coastal middlemen: the Duala of Cameroon', in Suzanne Miers and Igor Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Questions (Madison, 1977), 313. A slightly revised version of this article, entitled 'Slavery and slave trade on the Atlantic coast: the Duala of the littoral', was published in Paideuma, 41 (1995), 127-50. Austen's paper is the best account on Duala slavery published to date. See more generally, Andreas Eckert, 'Slavery in colonial Cameroon, 1880s to 1930s', Slavery and Abolition, 19 (1998), special issue on 'Slavery and colonial rule in Africa', Martin Klein and Suzanne Miers (eds.), 133-48.
25. Ralph A. Austen, 'Slavery among coastal middlemen: the Duala of Cameroon', in Suzanne Miers and Igor Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Questions (Madison, 1977), 313. A slightly revised version of this article, entitled 'Slavery and slave trade on the Atlantic coast: the Duala of the littoral', was published in Paideuma, 41 (1995), 127-50. Austen's paper is the best account on Duala slavery published to date. See more generally, Andreas Eckert, 'Slavery in colonial Cameroon, 1880s to 1930s', Slavery and Abolition, 19 (1998), special issue on 'Slavery and colonial rule in Africa', Martin Klein and Suzanne Miers (eds.), 133-48.
26. Ralph A. Austen, 'Slavery among coastal middlemen: the Duala of Cameroon', in Suzanne Miers and Igor Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Questions (Madison, 1977), 313. A slightly revised version of this article, entitled 'Slavery and slave trade on the Atlantic coast: the Duala of the littoral', was published in Paideuma, 41 (1995), 127-50. Austen's paper is the best account on Duala slavery published to date. See more generally, Andreas Eckert, 'Slavery in colonial Cameroon, 1880s to 1930s', Slavery and Abolition, 19 (1998), special issue on 'Slavery and colonial rule in Africa', Martin Klein and Suzanne Miers (eds.), 133-48.
27. This paragraph is based upon numerous interviews which I conducted in Douala between 1992 and 1994.
28. Austen, 'Metamorphosis', 6.
29. On David Mandessi Bell's life, see Yvette Monga, 'Les entrepreneurs duala (ca. 1890-ca. 1930) (Ph.D. thesis, Université de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, 1996).
30. See, among others, Ralph A. Austen, 'Duala vs. Germans in Cameroon: economic dimensions of a political conflict', Revue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-Mer, 64 (1977), 477-97; Adolf Rüger, 'Die Duala und die Kolonialmacht 1884-1914: eine Studie über die historischen Ursprünge des afrikanischen Antikolonialismus', in Helmuth Stoecker (ed.), Kamerun unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft (2 vols.) (Berlin, 1968), ii, 181-257; Andreas Eckert, Die Duala und die Kolonialmächte (Hamburg 1991), 104-13.
31. See, among others, Ralph A. Austen, 'Duala vs. Germans in Cameroon: economic dimensions of a political conflict', Revue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-Mer, 64 (1977), 477-97; Adolf Rüger, 'Die Duala und die Kolonialmacht 1884-1914: eine Studie über die historischen Ursprünge des afrikanischen Antikolonialismus', in Helmuth Stoecker (ed.), Kamerun unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft (2 vols.) (Berlin, 1968), ii, 181-257; Andreas Eckert, Die Duala und die Kolonialmächte (Hamburg 1991), 104-13.
32. See, among others, Ralph A. Austen, 'Duala vs. Germans in Cameroon: economic dimensions of a political conflict', Revue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-Mer, 64 (1977), 477-97; Adolf Rüger, 'Die Duala und die Kolonialmacht 1884-1914: eine Studie über die historischen Ursprünge des afrikanischen Antikolonialismus', in Helmuth Stoecker (ed.), Kamerun unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft (2 vols.) (Berlin, 1968), ii, 181-257; Andreas Eckert, Die Duala und die Kolonialmächte (Hamburg 1991), 104-13.
33. See Yvette Monga, 'The emergence of Duala cocoa planters under German rule in Cameroon: a case study of entrepreneurship', in William G. Clarence-Smith (ed.), Cocoa Pioneer Fronts since 1800: The Role of Smallholders, Planters and Merchants (Basingstoke, 1996), 119-36.
34. On early Duala cocoa planting, see for example, William G. Clarence-Smith, 'Plantation versus smallholder production of cocoa: the legacy of the German period in Cameroon', in Peter Geschiere and Piet Konings (eds), Itinéraires d'accumulation au Cameroun (Paris, 1993), 187-216; Monga 'Entrepreneurs Duala'; Monga, 'Emergence'; Albert Wirz, Vom Sklavenhandel zum kolonialen Handel: Wirtschaftsräume und Wirtschaftsformen in Kamerun vor 1914 (Zürich, 1972).
35. On early Duala cocoa planting, see for example, William G. Clarence-Smith, 'Plantation versus smallholder production of cocoa: the legacy of the German period in Cameroon', in Peter Geschiere and Piet Konings (eds), Itinéraires d'accumulation au Cameroun (Paris, 1993), 187-216; Monga 'Entrepreneurs Duala'; Monga, 'Emergence'; Albert Wirz, Vom Sklavenhandel zum kolonialen Handel: Wirtschaftsräume und Wirtschaftsformen in Kamerun vor 1914 (Zürich, 1972).
36. See Archives Nationales du Cameroun, Yaounde (hereafter ANY), Fonds Allemand (hereafter FA) 4/926, 6-8: Travel report Mattner, 20 Nov. 1911; ANY, FA 4/926, 3: Travel report Schröder, 20 Aug. 1912. Both authors estimated the age of many coca trees at around ten years.
37. See, for instance, Bundesarchiv Berlin (hereafter BB), R.Kol.Amt 7376, 6: Report Govenor v. Soden, 30 Aug. 1886; Report Govenor v. Zimmerer, 6 Aug. 1892; Eckert, 'Slavery in colonial Cameroon'; Austen, 'Slavery', 323-5.
38. See, 'Verordnung betreffend die Haussklaverei in Kamerun', 21 Feb. 1902, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 13 (1902), 107-8. For missionary reports, see Basel Mission Archives, E-2-13, 51: Laufer, 'Referat über Sklaverei und Sklavenhandel', Oct. 1900; E- 2.14,17: Dietrich, 'Sklavenhandel und Sklaverei in Kamerun', Jan. 1901. See also Leonard Harding, 'Die deutsche Diskussion um die Abschaffung der Sklaverei in Kamerun', in Peter Heine and Ulrich van der Heyden (eds.), Studien zur Geschichte des deutschen Kolonialismus in Afrika (Pfaffenweiler, 1995), 280-308.
39. See, 'Verordnung betreffend die Haussklaverei in Kamerun', 21 Feb. 1902, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 13 (1902), 107-8. For missionary reports, see Basel Mission Archives, E-2-13, 51: Laufer, 'Referat über Sklaverei und Sklavenhandel', Oct. 1900; E- 2.14,17: Dietrich, 'Sklavenhandel und Sklaverei in Kamerun', Jan. 1901. See also Leonard Harding, 'Die deutsche Diskussion um die Abschaffung der Sklaverei in Kamerun', in Peter Heine and Ulrich van der Heyden (eds.), Studien zur Geschichte des deutschen Kolonialismus in Afrika (Pfaffenweiler, 1995), 280-308.
40. See, 'Verordnung betreffend die Haussklaverei in Kamerun', 21 Feb. 1902, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 13 (1902), 107-8. For missionary reports, see Basel Mission Archives, E-2-13, 51: Laufer, 'Referat über Sklaverei und Sklavenhandel', Oct. 1900; E-2.14,17: Dietrich, 'Sklavenhandel und Sklaverei in Kamerun', Jan. 1901. See also Leonard Harding, 'Die deutsche Diskussion um die Abschaffung der Sklaverei in Kamerun', in Peter Heine and Ulrich van der Heyden (eds.), Studien zur Geschichte des deutschen Kolonialismus in Afrika (Pfaffenweiler, 1995), 280-308.
41. See, 'Verordnung betreffend die Haussklaverei in Kamerun', 21 Feb. 1902, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 13 (1902), 107-8. For missionary reports, see Basel Mission Archives, E-2-13, 51: Laufer, 'Referat über Sklaverei und Sklavenhandel', Oct. 1900; E- 2.14,17: Dietrich, 'Sklavenhandel und Sklaverei in Kamerun', Jan. 1901. See also Leonard Harding, 'Die deutsche Diskussion um die Abschaffung der Sklaverei in Kamerun', in Peter Heine and Ulrich van der Heyden (eds.), Studien zur Geschichte des deutschen Kolonialismus in Afrika (Pfaffenweiler, 1995), 280-308.
42. See Monga, 'Emergence', 130.
43. See ANY FA 4/926, 62-70: Report by Gardens' Officer Frommhold, 26 Oct. 1913.
44. The term 'Grassfields' is used in different ways. For some, this term includes both the francophone Bamileke and the anglophone Bamenda, historically and culturally closely related but since the First World War separated by a colonial border.
45. There is a considerable body of literature on German plantations and their labor recruitment. See, for example, Adolf Rüger, 'Die Entstehung und Lage der Arbeiterklasse unter dem deutschen Kolonialregime in Kamerun (1895-1905)', in Stoecker, Kamerun unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft, i, 149-242; Marc Michel, 'Les plantations allemandes du mont Cameroun, 1885-1914', Revue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-Mer, 57 (1970), 183-213; William G. Clarence-Smith, 'Cocoa plantations and coerced labor in the Gulf of Guinea, 1870-1914', in Martin Klein (ed.), Breaking the Chains: Slavery, Bondage, and Emancipation in Modern Africa and Asia (Madison, 1993), 150-70.
46. There is a considerable body of literature on German plantations and their labor recruitment. See, for example, Adolf Rüger, 'Die Entstehung und Lage der Arbeiterklasse unter dem deutschen Kolonialregime in Kamerun (1895-1905)', in Stoecker, Kamerun unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft, i, 149-242; Marc Michel, 'Les plantations allemandes du mont Cameroun, 1885-1914', Revue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-Mer, 57 (1970), 183-213; William G. Clarence-Smith, 'Cocoa plantations and coerced labor in the Gulf of Guinea, 1870-1914', in Martin Klein (ed.), Breaking the Chains: Slavery, Bondage, and Emancipation in Modern Africa and Asia (Madison, 1993), 150-70.
47. There is a considerable body of literature on German plantations and their labor recruitment. See, for example, Adolf Rüger, 'Die Entstehung und Lage der Arbeiterklasse unter dem deutschen Kolonialregime in Kamerun (1895-1905)', in Stoecker, Kamerun unter deutscher Kolonialherrschaft, i, 149-242; Marc Michel, 'Les plantations allemandes du mont Cameroun, 1885-1914', Revue Française d'Histoire d'Outre-Mer, 57 (1970), 183-213; William G. Clarence-Smith, 'Cocoa plantations and coerced labor in the Gulf of Guinea, 1870-1914', in Martin Klein (ed.), Breaking the Chains: Slavery, Bondage, and Emancipation in Modern Africa and Asia (Madison, 1993), 150-70.
48. See Austen, 'Metamorphosis', 16-17. On working and living conditions, see various reports in BB, for example: R.Kol.Amt 7813, 154: Report Bezirksamtmann v.Krosigk, 16 Dec. 1908; R.Kol.Amt. 3232, 216: Report Dr. Pfister, Sept. 1913; Mark W. DeLancey, 'Health and disease on the plantations of Cameroon, 1884-1939', in Gerald W. Hartwig and K. David Patterson (eds.), Disease in African History: An Introductory Survey and Case Studies (Durham, NC 1978), 153-79.
49. See Austen, 'Metamorphosis', 16-17. On working and living conditions, see various reports in BB, for example: R.Kol.Amt 7813, 154: Report Bezirksamtmann v.Krosigk, 16 Dec. 1908; R.Kol.Amt. 3232, 216: Report Dr. Pfister, Sept. 1913; Mark W. DeLancey, 'Health and disease on the plantations of Cameroon, 1884-1939', in Gerald W. Hartwig and K. David Patterson (eds.), Disease in African History: An Introductory Survey and Case Studies (Durham, NC 1978), 153-79.
50. See National Archives of Cameroon, Buea (hereafter NAB), Qf/e 1922/1: Report Whitman, 'Duala settlements on Mungo Right and Estuary', Aug. 1922; ANY, APA 11874: Chef Circonscription Douala to Commissaire, 10 June 1930; Andreas Eckert, 'Cocoa farming in Cameroon, c. 1914-c. 1960: land and labor', in Clarence-Smith, Cocoa Pioneer Fronts, 137-53.
51. ANY APA 11873: Circonscription Douala. Rapport Annuel 1920, 7. There are no statistics available for later years.
52. See Rapport Annuel Circonscription de Douala 1925 quoted by René Gouellain, Douala: ville et histoire (Paris, 1975), 208; Iwiyé Kala Lobe, 'The greatness and decline of "Mun'a Moto"', Présence Africaine, 9 (1961), 69-98 [a semi-fictional account based on the experience of actual planters]; Austen, 'Slavery', 326.
53. See Rapport Annuel Circonscription de Douala 1925 quoted by René Gouellain, Douala: ville et histoire (Paris, 1975), 208; Iwiyé Kala Lobe, 'The greatness and decline of "Mun'a Moto"', Présence Africaine, 9 (1961), 69-98 [a semi-fictional account based on the experience of actual planters]; Austen, 'Slavery', 326.
54. See Rapport Annuel Circonscription de Douala 1925 quoted by René Gouellain, Douala: ville et histoire (Paris, 1975), 208; Iwiyé Kala Lobe, 'The greatness and decline of "Mun'a Moto"', Présence Africaine, 9 (1961), 69-98 [a semi-fictional account based on the experience of actual planters]; Austen, 'Slavery', 326.
55. See Jap van Slageren, Les origines de l'église évangélique du Cameroun: missions européennes et Christianisme autochtone (Leiden, 1972), 144-5.
56. The statement of accounts of Paramount Chief Manga Bell's heirs indicates after 1918 only payments of wages of 'plantation workers'. (See non-classified document in Bell Family Archives, Douala.)
57. 'Rapport Annuel Circonscription Douala 1925', quoted by Gouellain, Douala, 208. Jonathan Derrick, 'Douala under the French Mandate, 1916-1936' (Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1979), 192.
58. 'Rapport Annuel Circonscription Douala 1925', quoted by Gouellain, Douala, 208. Jonathan Derrick, 'Douala under the French Mandate, 1916-1936' (Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1979), 192.
59. Kala Lobe, '"Mun'a Moto"', 69.
60. See Rapport Dugast 1943, quoted by Jean-Louis Dongmo, Le dynamisme bamiléké (2 vols.), (Yaounde, 1981), ii, 262-3; Archives Institut des Sciences Humaines, Yaounde (hereafter ISH) R ETU III 992: Etude de la Région du Mungo, n.d. (c. 1940).
61. See Jane Guyer, 'Head tax, social structure and rural incomes in Cameroun, 1922-1937', Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 20 (1980), 305-22; Léon Kaptué, Travail et main d'oeuvre au Cameroun sous régime français (Paris, 1986).
62. See Jane Guyer, 'Head tax, social structure and rural incomes in Cameroun, 1922-1937', Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 20 (1980), 305-22; Léon Kaptué, Travail et main d'oeuvre au Cameroun sous régime français (Paris, 1986).
63. This point was made by numerous former Bamileke agricultural workers whom I interviewed in 1992 in Douala, Yaounde and Nkongsamba.
64. See, for instance, ANY 1AC 1718: Letter 'Les Autochtones et les Notables', Nkongsamba Subdivision to High-Commissioner, 25 May 1951. The authors of this letter claim to be far more attached 'as to custom and culture' to the Duala than to the Bamileke. See also Andreas Eckert, Grundbesitz, Landkonflikte und kolonialer Wandel: Douala 1880 bis 1960 (Stuttgart, 1998).
65. See various reports on abandoned cocoa plantations, for example ANY APA 11965/A: Procès-verbaux des conseils de notables de la région du Mungo, 1927-1938: séance du 30 août 1932; Archives Nationales Section Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence (hereafter ANSOM), Série géo., C.23, Dos.206: Rapport de tournée, Circonscription de Yabassi, 12-23 Dec. 1932.
66. For more details on this development, see Austen and Derrick, Middlemen, ch.5.
67. This legal code relating to persons of 'native status' - or, more technically, sujets rather than citoyens - permitted French administrators both to try cases and impose summary disciplinary punishment. In Cameroon, as elsewhere in French Africa, the indigénat became a wide-ranging instrument in the hands of local French administrative officers to use as they saw fit. A contemporary critique of this code is offered by Raymond Leslie Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (2 vols.) (New York, 1928), ii.
68. See Richard Joseph, Radical Nationalism in Cameroon: Social Origins of the UPC Rebellion (Oxford, 1977), 122-3; Jean-Claude Barbier et al, Migrations et développement: la région du Moungo au Cameroun (Paris, 1983), 85-9; Van Slageren, Origines, 265.
69. See Richard Joseph, Radical Nationalism in Cameroon: Social Origins of the UPC Rebellion (Oxford, 1977), 122-3; Jean-Claude Barbier et al, Migrations et développement: la région du Moungo au Cameroun (Paris, 1983), 85-9; Van Slageren, Origines, 265.
70. See Richard Joseph, Radical Nationalism in Cameroon: Social Origins of the UPC Rebellion (Oxford, 1977), 122-3; Jean-Claude Barbier et al, Migrations et développement: la région du Moungo au Cameroun (Paris, 1983), 85-9; Van Slageren, Origines, 265.
71. See ISH W BET V38: Réponse Betote Akwa, 21 July 1938; Séance Conseil des Notables, Wouri, 23 Apr. 1938, quoted by Gouellain, Douala, 255-6.
72. See ANY APA 10051/A: Rapport SDN Mungo 1935; ANY APA 11689: Région du Mungo. Subdivision de Mbanga. Réponse au questionnaire de M. l'Inspecteur des Colonies, 16 Apr. 1939. Interviews with Gaston Kingue-Jongue, 12 May 1992; Maurie Doumbe-Moulongo, 10 Nov. 1992; Prince René Douala Manga Bell, 5 Feb. 1993; Léopold Moume-Etia, 19 Sept. 1991; Antoine Ntanga Ndongue, 13 May 1992 (all interviews conducted in Douala).
73. See Eckert, Grundbesitz, ch. 4.
74. This process is discussed by Ralph A. Austen, 'Tradition, invention and history: the case of the Ngondo (Cameroon)', Cahiers d'Études Africaines, 23 (1992), 285-309.
75. See Jean-Pierre Warnier, 'Histoire du peuplement et genèse des paysages dans l'ouest camerounais', Journal of African History, 25 (1984), 395-410; Warnier, 'Traite sans raids au Cameroun', Cahiers d'Études Africaines, 29 (1989), 5-32.
76. See Jean-Pierre Warnier, 'Histoire du peuplement et genèse des paysages dans l'ouest camerounais', Journal of African History, 25 (1984), 395-410; Warnier, 'Traite sans raids au Cameroun', Cahiers d'Études Africaines, 29 (1989), 5-32.
77. The term is mentioned, probably for the first time, in Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 16 (1905), 501. See also ISH P1 GEA III 642: Département de la Ménoua. Hypothèse sur l'origine et signification du mot Bamileke, 29 Mar. 1944.
78. While many Bamileke do claim to find the languages of certain of their neighbors incomprehensible, this may have quite a bit to do with issues of inter-polity rivalry (as opposed to fundamental linguistic differences). Jean-Pierre Warnier and Paul Nkwi, Elements for a History of the Western Grassfields (Yaounde, 1982), 34-5, note that the percentage of base vocabulary shared by any two languages within the two basic subgroups that form the Bamileke linguistic cluster varies between 85 and 99 per cent.
79. While primus inter pares is the term that many authors use, it presents some problems. In the nineteenth century, the Bamileke region underwent an intensive centralization process that had a powerful impact on social, political and economic institutions and practices. As a result of this, chiefs acquired vast new powers and were able to concentrate in their hands far greater power and resources than had previously been the case. If the chief had once been a primus inter pares, at this point he became something more. The colonial period further complicated matters, concentrating additional powers and wealth in the hands of selected chiefs.
80. To mention only a few: René Delarozière, 'Les institutions politiques et sociales des populations dites Bamileke', Études Camerounaises, 25-8 (1949); Claude Tardits, Contribution à l' étude des populations bamileke de l'ouest Cameroun (Paris, 1960); Jean Hurault, La structure sociale des Bamileke (Paris, 1962); Jan H. B. den Ouden, 'In search of personal mobility: changing interpersonal relations in two Bamileke chiefdoms', Africa, 57 (1987), 3-27; Eckart Rohde, Chefferie Bamileke - Traditionelle Herrschaft und Kolonialsystem (Hamburg, 1990); Ch.-H. Pradelles de Latour, Ethnopsychoanalyse en pays bamileke (Paris, 1991); Dominique Malaquais, 'Constructing power: architecture, landscape, and the design of space in a chieftaincy of the Bamileke highlands' (Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, 1997); and especially Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
81. To mention only a few: René Delarozière, 'Les institutions politiques et sociales des populations dites Bamileke', Études Camerounaises, 25-8 (1949); Claude Tardits, Contribution à l' étude des populations bamileke de l'ouest Cameroun (Paris, 1960); Jean Hurault, La structure sociale des Bamileke (Paris, 1962); Jan H. B. den Ouden, 'In search of personal mobility: changing interpersonal relations in two Bamileke chiefdoms', Africa, 57 (1987), 3-27; Eckart Rohde, Chefferie Bamileke - Traditionelle Herrschaft und Kolonialsystem (Hamburg, 1990); Ch.-H. Pradelles de Latour, Ethnopsychoanalyse en pays bamileke (Paris, 1991); Dominique Malaquais, 'Constructing power: architecture, landscape, and the design of space in a chieftaincy of the Bamileke highlands' (Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, 1997); and especially Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
82. To mention only a few: René Delarozière, 'Les institutions politiques et sociales des populations dites Bamileke', Études Camerounaises, 25-8 (1949); Claude Tardits, Contribution à l' étude des populations bamileke de l'ouest Cameroun (Paris, 1960); Jean Hurault, La structure sociale des Bamileke (Paris, 1962); Jan H. B. den Ouden, 'In search of personal mobility: changing interpersonal relations in two Bamileke chiefdoms', Africa, 57 (1987), 3-27; Eckart Rohde, Chefferie Bamileke - Traditionelle Herrschaft und Kolonialsystem (Hamburg, 1990); Ch.-H. Pradelles de Latour, Ethnopsychoanalyse en pays bamileke (Paris, 1991); Dominique Malaquais, 'Constructing power: architecture, landscape, and the design of space in a chieftaincy of the Bamileke highlands' (Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, 1997); and especially Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
83. To mention only a few: René Delarozière, 'Les institutions politiques et sociales des populations dites Bamileke', Études Camerounaises, 25-8 (1949); Claude Tardits, Contribution à l' étude des populations bamileke de l'ouest Cameroun (Paris, 1960); Jean Hurault, La structure sociale des Bamileke (Paris, 1962); Jan H. B. den Ouden, 'In search of personal mobility: changing interpersonal relations in two Bamileke chiefdoms', Africa, 57 (1987), 3-27; Eckart Rohde, Chefferie Bamileke - Traditionelle Herrschaft und Kolonialsystem (Hamburg, 1990); Ch.-H. Pradelles de Latour, Ethnopsychoanalyse en pays bamileke (Paris, 1991); Dominique Malaquais, 'Constructing power: architecture, landscape, and the design of space in a chieftaincy of the Bamileke highlands' (Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, 1997); and especially Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
84. To mention only a few: René Delarozière, 'Les institutions politiques et sociales des populations dites Bamileke', Études Camerounaises, 25-8 (1949); Claude Tardits, Contribution à l' étude des populations bamileke de l'ouest Cameroun (Paris, 1960); Jean Hurault, La structure sociale des Bamileke (Paris, 1962); Jan H. B. den Ouden, 'In search of personal mobility: changing interpersonal relations in two Bamileke chiefdoms', Africa, 57 (1987), 3-27; Eckart Rohde, Chefferie Bamileke - Traditionelle Herrschaft und Kolonialsystem (Hamburg, 1990); Ch.-H. Pradelles de Latour, Ethnopsychoanalyse en pays bamileke (Paris, 1991); Dominique Malaquais, 'Constructing power: architecture, landscape, and the design of space in a chieftaincy of the Bamileke highlands' (Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, 1997); and especially Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
85. To mention only a few: René Delarozière, 'Les institutions politiques et sociales des populations dites Bamileke', Études Camerounaises, 25-8 (1949); Claude Tardits, Contribution à l' étude des populations bamileke de l'ouest Cameroun (Paris, 1960); Jean Hurault, La structure sociale des Bamileke (Paris, 1962); Jan H. B. den Ouden, 'In search of personal mobility: changing interpersonal relations in two Bamileke chiefdoms', Africa, 57 (1987), 3-27; Eckart Rohde, Chefferie Bamileke - Traditionelle Herrschaft und Kolonialsystem (Hamburg, 1990); Ch.-H. Pradelles de Latour, Ethnopsychoanalyse en pays bamileke (Paris, 1991); Dominique Malaquais, 'Constructing power: architecture, landscape, and the design of space in a chieftaincy of the Bamileke highlands' (Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, 1997); and especially Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
86. To mention only a few: René Delarozière, 'Les institutions politiques et sociales des populations dites Bamileke', Études Camerounaises, 25-8 (1949); Claude Tardits, Contribution à l' étude des populations bamileke de l'ouest Cameroun (Paris, 1960); Jean Hurault, La structure sociale des Bamileke (Paris, 1962); Jan H. B. den Ouden, 'In search of personal mobility: changing interpersonal relations in two Bamileke chiefdoms', Africa, 57 (1987), 3-27; Eckart Rohde, Chefferie Bamileke - Traditionelle Herrschaft und Kolonialsystem (Hamburg, 1990); Ch.-H. Pradelles de Latour, Ethnopsychoanalyse en pays bamileke (Paris, 1991); Dominique Malaquais, 'Constructing power: architecture, landscape, and the design of space in a chieftaincy of the Bamileke highlands' (Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, 1997); and especially Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
87. To mention only a few: René Delarozière, 'Les institutions politiques et sociales des populations dites Bamileke', Études Camerounaises, 25-8 (1949); Claude Tardits, Contribution à l' étude des populations bamileke de l'ouest Cameroun (Paris, 1960); Jean Hurault, La structure sociale des Bamileke (Paris, 1962); Jan H. B. den Ouden, 'In search of personal mobility: changing interpersonal relations in two Bamileke chiefdoms', Africa, 57 (1987), 3-27; Eckart Rohde, Chefferie Bamileke - Traditionelle Herrschaft und Kolonialsystem (Hamburg, 1990); Ch.-H. Pradelles de Latour, Ethnopsychoanalyse en pays bamileke (Paris, 1991); Dominique Malaquais, 'Constructing power: architecture, landscape, and the design of space in a chieftaincy of the Bamileke highlands' (Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University, 1997); and especially Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
88. The colonial reports contain rich information on population density and land scarcity in the Bamileke area. See, for example, ANY APA 11804/F: Rapports de tournées, 19-26 July 1936, 12-23 Aug. 1936; ANY APA 11809/E: Rapport de tournée, 21 March-28 Apr. 1938; see for general information, Michael Ndobegang Mbpandah, 'French colonial agricultural policy, African chiefs and coffee-growing in the Cameroon Grassfields', International Journal of African Historical Studies, 27 (1994), 41-58.
89. The Bamileke inheritance system is described by Hurault, Structure, 49-54; Tardits, Contribution , 25-6.
90. The Bamileke inheritance system is described by Hurault, Structure, 49-54; Tardits, Contribution , 25-6.
91. To date there is no adequate study of the process of Bamileke migration into the Littoral and cities like Douala or Yaounde, but the general outlines are given in Dongmo, Dynamisme, i-ii; Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise; Joseph, Radical Nationalism; Barbier et al., Migrations.
92. To date there is no adequate study of the process of Bamileke migration into the Littoral and cities like Douala or Yaounde, but the general outlines are given in Dongmo, Dynamisme, i-ii; Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise; Joseph, Radical Nationalism; Barbier et al., Migrations.
93. To date there is no adequate study of the process of Bamileke migration into the Littoral and cities like Douala or Yaounde, but the general outlines are given in Dongmo, Dynamisme, i-ii; Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise; Joseph, Radical Nationalism; Barbier et al., Migrations.
94. See Dieudonné Miaffo and Jean-Pierre Warnier, 'Accumulation et ethos de la notabilité chez les Bamileke', in Geschiere and Konings, Itinéraires, 33-69.
95. See, among others, Jean-François Bayart, L'état au Cameroun (Paris, 1979); Andreas Mehler, Kamerun in der Ära Biya: Bedingungen, erste Schritte und Blockaden einer demokratischen Transition (Hamburg, 1993); Milton Krieger and Joseph Takougang, African State and Society in the 1990s: Cameroon's Political Crossroads (Boulder, 1998).
96. See, among others, Jean-François Bayart, L'état au Cameroun (Paris, 1979); Andreas Mehler, Kamerun in der Ära Biya: Bedingungen, erste Schritte und Blockaden einer demokratischen Transition (Hamburg, 1993); Milton Krieger and Joseph Takougang, African State and Society in the 1990s: Cameroon's Political Crossroads (Boulder, 1998).
97. See, among others, Jean-François Bayart, L'état au Cameroun (Paris, 1979); Andreas Mehler, Kamerun in der Ära Biya: Bedingungen, erste Schritte und Blockaden einer demokratischen Transition (Hamburg, 1993); Milton Krieger and Joseph Takougang, African State and Society in the 1990s: Cameroon's Political Crossroads (Boulder, 1998).
98. Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise; Warnier and Miaffo, 'Accumulation'.
99. Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise; Warnier and Miaffo, 'Accumulation'.
100. See especially, Jean-Pierre Warnier, 'The king as a container in the Cameroon Grassfields', Paideuma, 39 (1993), 303-19. I should add here that there are many problems in referring to Bamileke chiefs as 'kings', largely because the whole concept of kingship has been very expertly used in the post-colonial era by chiefs themselves in constructions of identity that have more to do with official histories than anything else.
101. See Austen, 'Metamorphosis', 17.
102. See ISH III 562: Rapport Raynaud: 'Recensement nominatif complet de la population bamileke résidant dans la subdivision de Mbanga', 15 Aug. 1942.
103. See various documents in ANY, e.g. APA 10100/B: Colonisation Bamileke dans la Subdivision de Mbanga, 1942; APA 11551/A: Rapports Annuels Mungo, 1941-8.
104. See various documents in ANY, e.g. APA 10100/B: Colonisation Bamileke dans la Subdivision de Mbanga, 1942; APA 11551/A: Rapports Annuels Mungo, 1941-8.
105. See ANY APA 10005/A: Rapport Annuel Circonscription de Nkongsamba 1930; Rapport Annuel du gouvernement français sur l'administration sous mandat du territoire du Cameroun 1936, 99; ANY APA 10782: Rapport du Chef de la Subdivision de Mbanga, 10 Oct. 1937; Joseph, Radical Nationalism, 10.
106. See ANY APA 10005/A: Rapport Annuel Circonscription de Nkongsamba 1930; Rapport Annuel du gouvernement français sur l'administration sous mandat du territoire du Cameroun 1936, 99; ANY APA 10782: Rapport du Chef de la Subdivision de Mbanga, 10 Oct. 1937; Joseph, Radical Nationalism, 10.
107. See ANY APA 10005/A: Rapport Annuel Circonscription de Nkongsamba 1930; Rapport Annuel du gouvernement français sur l'administration sous mandat du territoire du Cameroun 1936, 99; ANY APA 10782: Rapport du Chef de la Subdivision de Mbanga, 10 Oct. 1937; Joseph, Radical Nationalism, 10.
108. See ANY APA 10005/A: Rapport Annuel Circonscription de Nkongsamba 1930; Rapport Annuel du gouvernement français sur l'administration sous mandat du territoire du Cameroun 1936, 99; ANY APA 10782: Rapport du Chef de la Subdivision de Mbanga, 10 Oct. 1937; Joseph, Radical Nationalism, 10.
109. See unclassified file, Archives Préfectorales du Mungo, Nkongsamba: Procès-Verbal Assemblée Générale du 29 avril 1950 a/s des modifications à apporter de reconnaissance des droits fonciers indigènes, Nkongsamba; Odile Chatap-Ekindi, 'Changement et ruptures dans le Mungo de 1911 à 1950' (Ph.D. thesis, Université de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, 1992).
110. Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise, provides a highly instructive analysis of different Bamileke means of accumulation today.
111. See Alain Henry et al., Tontines et banques au Cameroun (Paris, 1991); Dan Soen and Patrice de Cornarmond, 'Savings associations among the Bamileke: traditional and modern co-operation in south-west Cameroon', Journal de la Société des Africanistes, 41 (1971), 189-201; Claudia Sidman-Steiner, 'Les associations du crédit rotatif; la banque du peuple. Avec un étude de cas de Douala (Cameroun)' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Zürich, 1983).
112. See Alain Henry et al., Tontines et banques au Cameroun (Paris, 1991); Dan Soen and Patrice de Cornarmond, 'Savings associations among the Bamileke: traditional and modern co-operation in south-west Cameroon', Journal de la Société des Africanistes, 41 (1971), 189-201; Claudia Sidman-Steiner, 'Les associations du crédit rotatif; la banque du peuple. Avec un étude de cas de Douala (Cameroun)' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Zürich, 1983).
113. See Alain Henry et al., Tontines et banques au Cameroun (Paris, 1991); Dan Soen and Patrice de Cornarmond, 'Savings associations among the Bamileke: traditional and modern co-operation in south-west Cameroon', Journal de la Société des Africanistes, 41 (1971), 189-201; Claudia Sidman-Steiner, 'Les associations du crédit rotatif; la banque du peuple. Avec un étude de cas de Douala (Cameroun)' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Zürich, 1983).
114. The following paragraph mainly draws on Joseph, Radical Nationalism, 143-4, as well as on interviews with former Bamileke farmers conducted in Yaounde and Nkongsamba in 1992.
115. For a general introduction to these societies, see Jane Guyer, The Providence Societies in the Rural Economies of Yaoundé 1945-1960 (Boston, 1980).
116. Joseph, Radical Nationalism.
117. For details, see Dongmo, Dynamisme, i; Barbier et al., Migrations.
118. For details, see Dongmo, Dynamisme, i; Barbier et al., Migrations.
119. Interviews with Victor Massango, Antoine Nantcha, Robert Ngolle (Yaounde, 2 Jan. 1993). A detailed discussion of this complex is provided by Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
120. Interviews with Victor Massango, Antoine Nantcha, Robert Ngolle (Yaounde, 2 Jan. 1993). A detailed discussion of this complex is provided by Warnier, L'esprit d'entreprise.
121. Henri Sournies, L'émigration des populations bamiléké dans la région du Mungo (Cameroun): aspects divers et conséquences (Mémoire, Ecole Nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer, Paris, 1954-5), 14.
122. See Eckert, 'Cocoa farming'.
123. See Philippe Darge, Le café au Cameroun (Mémoire, Ecole Nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer, Paris, 1958-59), 73-4; Joseph, Radical Nationalism, 147. This family (one man, two wives, three children) spent for instance 1,500 Frs (CFA) on salt, 5,000 Frs on meat, vegetables and fish, 30,000 Frs on clothing and 3,000 on (palm) wine.
124. See Philippe Darge, Le café au Cameroun (Mémoire, Ecole Nationale de la France d'Outre-Mer, Paris, 1958-59), 73-4; Joseph, Radical Nationalism, 147. This family (one man, two wives, three children) spent for instance 1,500 Frs (CFA) on salt, 5,000 Frs on meat, vegetables and fish, 30,000 Frs on clothing and 3,000 on (palm) wine.