Search

In 1982, Esther Goody demonstrated the importance of child fostering for social reproduction. Why, in the 2010s and 2020s, does the idea of child fostering remain a valorized expression of “African solidarity” when so many Bamiléké simultaneously retreat—even recoil—from engaging in this practice? Bamiléké parents replace fostering, once praised for promoting resilience, with concerted cultivation. This contribution explores how changes in kinship and class formation contribute to the decline of child fostering among transnationally-connected middle-class Bamiléké in Cameroon and in several of its international diasporas. It presents two contrasting emic ideals regarding the who and the how of good parenting, employing sharply distinct notions of kinscription—or which kin should be responsible for which aspects of childrearing—and of the role of hardship in child development. Three further case stories, from the perspectives of fostered children and foster parents, illustrate exemplars that influence new norms and debates regarding child fostering, kinship obligations, and good parenting that emerged during the early 21st century. The multiplicity of ideas regarding responsible parenthood generates conflict, which many Bamiléké parents seek to avoid by becoming reluctant relatives. New orientations toward parenting demonstrate that parenting and parenthood reflect and contribute to social inequality. En 1982, Esther Goody a démontré l’importance de l’accueil de l’enfant d’autrui (fosterage) dans le processus de reproduction sociale. Bien que valorisée comme une expression de la solidarité africaine dans les années 2010 et 2020, cette pratique est abandonnée par beaucoup de Bamiléké au profit de « l’apprentissage concerté ». Cet article examine comment l’évolution de la parenté et de la formation des classes sociales contribue au dépérissement du fosterage parmi les Bamiléké de la classe moyenne, aussi bien au Cameroun que dans leurs nombreuses communautés diasporiques. L’article propose deux idées émiques par rapport à la répartition des rôles et au fonctionnement de la bonne parentalité, en partant du concept de kinscription (qui dans la famille doit se charger de tel ou tel aspect de l’éducation de l’enfant) et de l’importance des épreuves dans le développement de l’enfant. Trois études de cas illustrent les modèles qui influencent les débats des premières décennies du xxie siècle sur l’accueil d’enfants, les obligations de parenté, et sur la « bonne » éducation parentale. Les multiples conceptions de l’éducation parentale responsable entraînent des conflits, que de nombreux parents bamiléké évitent en devenant des parents réticents. Les pratiques d’éducation familiale et de parentalité reflètent et contribuent tout à la fois aux inégalités sociales.

This study is interested in the way the war of independence of Cameroon was translated in the evolution and the distribution of the population and the territories in the Bamileke region, West Cameroon. Between 1955 and 1971, this region faced many turbulences linked to the independences in the Third World, which inflamed populations and countries. Forced displacements systematically advocated by the colonial authorities, and implemented through regrouping camps in troubled areas, durably modify the spatial distribution, the demographic structure and the mobilities of affected populations. The observed impacts reflect the effects of war and forced displacement more than the long periods. These are troubles with heavy consequences in the lives of people, but more discreet in certain time steps from the statistical observation of the total number of populations., Cette étude s’intéresse à la manière dont s’est traduite la guerre d’indépendance du Cameroun dans l’évolution et la répartition de la population et des territoires en pays Bamiléké à l’Ouest-Cameroun. Entre 1955 et 1971, cette région fait face aux turbulences des indépendances du Tiers Monde qui enflamment populations et pays. Les déplacements forcés systématiquement prônés par le pouvoir colonial et mis en application dans les camps de regroupements dans les zones troublées modifient durablement la distribution spatiale, la structure démographique et les mobilités des populations touchées. Les impacts observés traduisent plus les effets de guerre et les déplacements forcés que les périodes longues. Ce sont des secousses telluriques aux conséquences lourdes dans les vies des populations, mais plus discrètes dans certains pas de temps de l’observation statistique du nombre total des populations.

Pourquoi les jeunes abandonnent-ils le milieu rural pour la ville, ou tout en restant au village, se consacrent-ils à d’autres activités que l’agriculture ? Les années que j’ai passé à répondre à cette question m’ont appris qu’il s’agit d’un sujet complexe. L’ambiguïté des mots, des notions, des concepts qui sont mobilisés le démontre. Cependant, les différentes approches de la perception des mouvements des jeunes vers les villes des pays subsahariens me laissent profondément insatisfait, qu’elles soient démographiques, sociologiques, socioéconomiques ou anthropologiques. C’est pourquoi j’ai pris le pari dans cette thèse de travailler en profondeur à la compréhension du rapport des jeunes à leur environnement (manière de faire-famille et d’être-en-famille, rapport à la terre et à l’activité agricole, etc.). Il me semble que dans ces rapports logent des mécanismes qui travaillent en arrière-plan, lesquels influencent les familles et les individus qui les composent. Ce sont donc ces mécanismes que j’ai entrepris en premier lieu de « débusquer », et ensuite d’analyser et d’expliquer. L’issu de la recherche donne un aperçu nouveau sur les dynamiques de production, d’accumulation spécifiques aux Bamiléké, sur leurs capacités à configurer leurs exploitations, eu égard à un ethos tourné vers l’accumulation productive, mais aussi en fonction de la structure de la famille, de la nature de leur exploitation, des contraintes qu’elles subissent et des opportunités qu’elles saisissent, et qui modifient en permanence leurs logiques et stratégies productives. Ici, le parcours des jeunes n’est plus simplement appréhendé par le prisme de l’exode rural, mais par la subtilité qu’elle amène quand elle indique qu’il existe un lien très fort entre la nature de la configuration de l’exploitation familiale et le parcours des jeunes. (POLS - Sciences politiques et sociales) -- UCL, 2019

International audience; Relying on previously unpublished archives, this article examines the management of witchcraft in Cameroon during the period of the French mandate. Through a description, first of how the administration characterized witchcraft, the legislation established, the judicial powers granted to local representatives, and the mediation procedures observed in the Bamileke area, this analysis then highlights the ambiguities of the administration in this area, and the role played by the “Assessing Judges” who pursued accusations of witchcraft outside the established justice system. Further, it reveals the use of an administrative-customary instance to deal with these cases: Conciliation. This authority allowed for the customary settlement of the submitted cases, without leaving any written traces or documentation. Assessing judges, chiefs and notables, thus rendered almost invisible both the pressures exerted by sorcery and its attendant lot of accusations. This article postulates the establishment of a self-administered sorcery “system” in the colony, due to the uncertainties characterizing the legal framework and the inadequacy of judicial procedures.; À l’appui d’archives inédites, cet article dévoile les dessous de la prise en charge de la sorcellerie au Cameroun pendant la période du mandat français. En décrivant successivement le cadre administratif de définition de la sorcellerie, les législations fixées en la matière, les compétences judiciaires octroyées aux représentants locaux, et les procédures de médiation observées en pays bamiléké, l’analyse souligne les ambiguïtés de l’administration dans ce domaine et le rôle joué par les « juges assesseurs », qui maintiendront les accusations de sorcellerie hors de la justice instituée. Elle révèle à cet égard le recours à une instance administrativo-coutumière pour traiter ces cas : la Conciliation. Une instance qui autorise un règlement coutumier, sans trace écrite, des affaires soumises. Grâce au dispositif, les juges assesseurs, chefs et notables, rendront presque invisibles la pression sorcellaire et son lot d’accusations. L’article postule ainsi l’établissement d’un « système » sorcellaire autogéré en colonie, en raison des incertitudes qui caractérisent le cadre législatif et de l’inadaptation des procédures judiciaires.

International audience; This article proposes to return to the time of the genesis of a diviner prophetwho finds his place very early in the religious system of the Bamileke chieftaincy.Observed in the course of the 1930s, the emergent category of kemsi– now dominant – specializes in the mediation between the living and the dead and in the treatment of diseases. Far from threatening the establishedorder, these revealed soothsayers, on the contrary, blend into the “custom” ofthe chieftaincy. The history of this figure, unique in the light of the prophetictraditions in Africa, is traced back to events whose impact is measured in thelong-term: the implantation of Christian missions and the ritualized exerciseof missionary medicine, the appearance practitioners embodying a field ofgod-held healing, and finally the influence of indigenous evangelical Churchcadres eager to draw inspiration from the great prophetic experiences. A divinemission, by nature subversive, against which the Bamileke chiefs oppose themore orthodox one of the “notables of god”.; Cet article propose de revenir sur le temps de la genèse d’un devin prophètequi trouve très tôt sa place au sein du système religieux de la chefferieBamiléké. Observée dans le courant des années 1930, la catégorie émergentedes kemsi – devenue dominante aujourd’hui – se spécialise dans la médiationentre vivants et morts et dans le traitement des maladies. Loin de menacerl’ordre établi, ces devins révélés se fondent au contraire dans la « coutume »de la chefferie. L’histoire de cette figure, singulière au regard des traditionsprophétiques en Afrique, est retracée à partir d’événements dont l’impact semesure durablement : l’implantation des missions chrétiennes et l’exerciceritualisé de la médecine missionnaire, l’apparition de praticiennes incarnant unchamp de la guérison tenue de dieu, l’influence enfin de cadres autochtones del’Église évangéliste pressés de s’inspirer des grandes expériences prophétiques.Une mission divine, par nature subversive, à laquelle les chefs Bamiléké vontopposer celle plus orthodoxe des « notables de dieu ».

International audience; The introduction of indigenous catechists would constitute the armed wing of evangelization in Cameroon and the Bamileke chiefdoms. Recruited to fill the benches of the Christian school, children and adolescents represented for the missionaries the future indigenous cadres of the new Church. At the beginning of the 1910s, the first catechists formed an emergent category, which, very quickly, proved to be the pivot of Christian life. Promoted as representatives of the religious order of whites and as mediators between the people and the missionaries, they had a duty to preach the doctrine by opposing local morals and customs. The biography of the catechist Bernard Ngou here serves as a guiding thread, and reveals an impossible destiny in these early times: a life guided by an attachment to Christian precepts and punctuated by unusual or unfortunate circumstances, in which the suspicion of witchcraft was never dispelled. The path of the cross which dominates this narrative sketches a specifically Bamileke motif of Christian persecution.; L’institution des catéchistes autochtones constituera le bras armé de l’évangélisation au Cameroun et dans les chefferies Bamiléké. Recrutés pour garnir les bancs de l’école chrétienne, enfants et adolescents représenteront pour les missionnaires les futurs cadres autochtones de l’Église nouvelle. Au début des années 1910, les premiers catéchistes forment une catégorie émergente qui, très vite, s’avère être le pivot de la vie chrétienne. Promus représentants de l’ordre religieux des blancs et médiateurs entre les populations et le missionnaire, ils se doivent de prêcher la doctrine en s’opposant aux mœurs et coutumes locales. La biographie du catéchiste Bernard Ngou sert ici de fil conducteur, et révèle en ces premiers temps un destin impossible : une vie guidée par un attachement aux préceptes chrétiens, et ponctuée par des circonstances insolites ou malheureuses, où le soupçon de sorcellerie n’est jamais désarmé. Ce chemin de croix qui domine le récit dessine un motif proprement Bamiléké de la persécution chrétienne.

This paper analyses the evolution of the Bamiléké bocage (hedgescape) between 1900 and 1960. The process was nonlinear and consisted in waves of extension and withdrawal resulting from farmers’ innovations and foreign influences. We distinguish four time periods, which we feel correspond to evolutionary phases of the wooded landscapes: the arrival of the Europeans (1900-1915), the period from European pacification to the liberalisation of the coffee trade (1915 to 1945), the period of liberalised coffee trade (1945 to 1960), and the period of havoc at the time of independence (around 1960). At the beginning of the 20th century, clusters of hedgerows were all that remained in the mainly savannah landscape around settlements. Between 1915 and 1945, the hedgerow system quickly spread and dominated the landscape. The Bamiléké region appeared to have crossed a demographic threshold that required a more intense land development system with a more developed bocage. Coffee production, which was introduced by the French, provided the farmers with an alternative cash crop. The best lands were used to grow coffee, not to rear livestock, formerly the traditional source of income. The enclosure system was gradually abandoned, with hedges used mainly to delineate allocated lands and as a source of wood and non-wood forest products. After 1945, the system continued to expand in the colonised areas. But it later shrank in areas where conflict broke out in the early days of independence. It later again expanded, but sometimes in a modified form. Cet article analyse l’évolution du bocage Bamiléké entre 1900 et 1960. Cette évolution n’a pas été linéaire et comprend des épisodes d’extension et de contraction en fonction des innovations paysannes et des influences étrangères. Quatre périodes sont ici distinguées qui correspondent à des phases d’évolution du paysage et de son couvert arboré : l’arrivée des européens (1900-1915) ; la période allant de pacification de la région par les Européens à la libéralisation du commerce du café Arabica (1915 to 1945) ; la période de libéralisation du commerce du café (1945 to 1960) ; et la période de rébellion au moment de l’indépendance (autour de 1960). Au tout début du 20e siècle, le paysage dominant était constitué de savane avec des tâches de réseaux de haie autour du siège des chefferies. Entre 1915 et 1945, le réseau de haies s’est rapidement répandu entre les chefferies et est devenu dominant dans le paysage. La région Bamiléké semble alors avoir atteint un seuil démographique qui induit un usage plus intensif de l’espace avec un bocage plus développé. La production de café, introduite par les Français, représente une nouvelle culture de rente pour les agriculteurs. Les meilleures terres sont désormais dédiées à cette culture et non plus à l’élevage comme précédemment. Le réseau de haies n’est de ce fait plus aussi nécessaire qu’avant et les haies sont désormais essentiellement des marqueurs de limites foncières et de sources de produits forestiers ligneux et non-ligneux. Après 1945, le réseau de haie, bien que moins dense, continue de s’étendre dans les espaces de colonisation agricole. Cependant, il rétrécie dans les espaces de conflits suite aux premiers jours de l’indépendance. Il s’étend ensuite à nouveau, mais sous des formes différentes.

The Bamileke society of Western Cameroon, marked by a hierarchical social structure based on customary references in the course of evolution, is crossed by conflicts that can be identified in social relations. These tensions crystallize on the occasion of ceremonies such as the mourning of a commoner, field of the observations of this thesis. The sociological and ethnological analysis of these conflicts and the modalities of their practical management, with a view to the unfolding of mourning ceremonies in its entirety, mobilizing the theoretical tools of negotiation and social transactions in the permanent elaboration of compromises, what this work analyses throughout the grieving process. The empirical sources and methods crossed with the theoretical references show that, relatives of the deceased, in terms of sets of actors and in relation to different frame of constraints (customary, socio-economic, temporal...) organize themselves to manage conflicts through negotiation or transactions dynamics that always lead to relative and temporary compromises. At first marked by the time of mourning, these compromises participate more widely in the local recomposition of social relations and the relationship between tradition and modernity in Bamileke society., La société bamiléké de l’Ouest Cameroun, marquée par une structure sociale hiérarchisée basée sur des références coutumières en cours d’évolution, est traversée par des conflits repérables dans les rapports sociaux. Ces tensions se cristallisent à l’occasion des cérémonies telles que le deuil d’un roturier, terrain des observations de cette thèse. L’analyse sociologique et ethnologique de ces conflits et des modalités de leur gestion pratique, en vue du déroulement du deuil dans son intégralité, mobilise l’outillage théorique de la négociation et des transactions sociales dans l’élaboration permanente de compromis, ce que ce travail analyse tout au long du processus de deuil. Les sources et méthodes empiriques croisées avec l’appareillage théoriques donnent à voir que, chez les Bamiléké, les parties prenantes, en termes de jeux d’acteurs et en relation avec différents cadres de contraintes (coutumier, socio-économique, temporel…), s’organisent pour gérer les conflits à travers des dynamiques de négociation ou de transactions qui conduisent à des compromis toujours relatifs et provisoires. D’abord marqués par le temps du deuil, ces compromis participent plus largement de la recomposition locale des relations sociales et du rapport tradition/modernité dans la société bamiléké.

This work was carried out among the Bamileke in the Menoua Division in the West Region of Cameroon. It presents my main informant, Kenfack Tsopmo Cecile, a handicapped woman of 44 years who uses entrepreneurship as a means to break the social rejection that many people face because of their handicap. Despite her handicap, Cecile is very active and present on various social arenas. She is engaged in many different entrepreneurial activities. Thanks to her lifestyle she is well integrated in her society and regarded by many people around her as a courageous and hard worker. However, in spite of her capacity to progress in business, Cecile still finds it difficult to be taken as spouse, because of her physical appearance. While working with Cecile I learned not only about her particular case, but also about many issues that she shares with other handicapped women in Bamilike society. Many handicapped women in the Menoua Division have common traits like their cultural background and their handicap condition. Their cultural background makes them capable of undertaking business. But marriage is generally a serious problem for handicapped women, because in Menoua community, there are people who consider woman’s physical appearance as the sole proof of her beauty. As a result of such opinions, handicapped women are widely excluded from the marriage social field. As victims of social exclusion, some of these handicapped women have established an association to support one another and fight for their rights.

International audience; This paper looks back at the birth and development of an art ideology in Cameroon from the 1940s onwards, which has stipulated an affinity between creational values and traditional values. This relation of identity, which has mainly resulted from the various exegeses accompanying projects for the preservation and promotion of the art of the chieftaincies and kingdoms of the Grassfields, will be examined by considering three historical periods. These three moments are embodied by three personalities: Raymond Lecoq, Engelbert Mveng and Jean-Paul Notué, whose commitment for the acknowledgment and the transmission of these plastic creations has contributed to fixing the creational and traditional values both at the local and national levels. Also, this historical perspective will testify of the birth of a properly African art field in Cameroon.; Cet article revient sur la genèse et le développement d’une idéologie de l’art au Cameroun, qui s’affirme depuis les années 1940 sur la base d’une affinité entre les valeurs de création et de tradition. Ce rapport d’identité, établi principalement à partir des exégèses qui ont accompagné les entreprises de sauvegarde et de mise en valeur de l’art des chefferies et royaumes des Grassfields, est analysé suivant un parcours historique en trois temps. Trois temps illustrés par trois personnalités : Raymond Lecoq, Engelbert Mveng et Jean-Paul Notué, dont l’engagement au service de la reconnaissance et de la transmission de cet univers plastique a contribué à fixer ces valeurs, sur le plan local et national. Un parcours, enfin, qui témoigne de la naissance d’un champ proprement africain de l’art au Cameroun.

In a statistical report of the year 2005, Brå informs that the Middle East and North African immigrants are overrepresented in crime in Sweden. Also, in a previous study in Cameroon, I realized that the Bamileke folk (originating from the West Cameroon) is mostly represented in the minor district of the Central Prison of Douala - Cameroon. In an attempt to understand crime perpetrated by migrants, scholars have suggested the unpleasant context of migration, the strain encountered by the migrants as a result of social exclusion, the fact that migrants live in disorganized area where it is more likely to find criminals and the clash of culture between migrants and the natives of the society where they settle. The aim of my research is to find out, on the basis of these four parameters, if it could be possible to understand how the process of criminalization of migrants, in the society where they settle, occurs. In this research, I focus on juvenile delinquency. In order to perform the research and attempt to answer the question, I made of use documentary analysis backed up with data gathered from experience, unstructured observation and interviews I performed among the minority groups. The results of my research do not support that the unpleasant context of exit might be a factor leading to criminalization in the particular case of minority’s youth. It also suggests that it is not the minority’s culture that makes them to be labelled as criminals; it is rather the essentialized perception of the minority group’s culture as being a threat to the dominant group’s values and interests, which contributes in labelling a minority group as criminals. In return, labelling people of the minority group as criminals contributes to their discrimination in the society, thus making them to develop criminal attitudes in order to escape the strain they encounter through discrimination; as this occurs, the young migrant may internalize the idea that he is criminal as a result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Discrimination contributes also in making the minority group to settle in disorganized areas where criminal activities are more likely to occur among youths. These findings are important because it might help to understand the risk of criminalizing some actions as belonging to a minority group’s culture. Indeed, doing so seems to reinforce the labelling of people of the minority group as criminal without proper analysis that may explain why they chose to act the way they act. It furthers their discrimination in the society which in turn may force them to use illegal ways to respond to the strain they encounter through discrimination.

In a statistical report of the year 2005, Brå informs that the Middle East and North African immigrants are overrepresented in crime in Sweden. Also, in a previous study in Cameroon, I realized that the Bamileke folk (originating from the West Cameroon) is mostly represented in the minor district of the Central Prison of Douala - Cameroon. In an attempt to understand crime perpetrated by migrants, scholars have suggested the unpleasant context of migration, the strain encountered by the migrants as a result of social exclusion, the fact that migrants live in disorganized area where it is more likely to find criminals and the clash of culture between migrants and the natives of the society where they settle. The aim of my research is to find out, on the basis of these four parameters, if it could be possible to understand how the process of criminalization of migrants, in the society where they settle, occurs. In this research, I focus on juvenile delinquency. In order to perform the research and attempt to answer the question, I made of use documentary analysis backed up with data gathered from experience, unstructured observation and interviews I performed among the minority groups. The results of my research do not support that the unpleasant context of exit might be a factor leading to criminalization in the particular case of minority’s youth. It also suggests that it is not the minority’s culture that makes them to be labelled as criminals; it is rather the essentialized perception of the minority group’s culture as being a threat to the dominant group’s values and interests, which contributes in labelling a minority group as criminals. In return, labelling people of the minority group as criminals contributes to their discrimination in the society, thus making them to develop criminal attitudes in order to escape the strain they encounter through discrimination; as this occurs, the young migrant may internalize the idea that he is criminal as a result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Discrimination contributes also in making the minority group to settle in disorganized areas where criminal activities are more likely to occur among youths. These findings are important because it might help to understand the risk of criminalizing some actions as belonging to a minority group’s culture. Indeed, doing so seems to reinforce the labelling of people of the minority group as criminal without proper analysis that may explain why they chose to act the way they act. It furthers their discrimination in the society which in turn may force them to use illegal ways to respond to the strain they encounter through discrimination.

In a densely populated region, Bamileke peasants have developed agri-forestry systems that associate ligneous species with farm crops on the same plot of land. These associations are heterogeneous. Vertically, the structure consists of distinct layers while the horizontal layout depends on their position on the slope. Their components are organized around furrow ridges. Their specific diversity is considerably higher than those of farming systems observed along the wooded border of the hignlands. The study of these productives structures, which integrate trees into food-growing systems, raise questions about how they were probably built. This study is backed up by an analysis of the ligneous materials used and by interviews with well informed persons. The logic of the peasant productive systems is looked at from the ecological and social background of the Bamileke. These agri-forestry systems have lost some of their heterogeneity through specialization, and production is not as complementary as before. An analysis of the dynamics of these systems raises the question of how to reproduce them over the long term and attain sustainable growth. The key question is whether such agri-forestry systems are viable in today's socioeconomic environment., Dans une région de forte densité de population, les paysans bamiléké élaborent des systèmes agroforestiers qui associent sur une même parcelle des espèces ligneuses aux productions agricoles. Ces associations présentent une structure verticale composée de strates et un agencement horizontal qui dépend de leur situation sur les versants. Leurs composantes s'organisent autour des billons de culture. Elles présentent une diversité spécifique supérieure à celle des systèmes de cultures observée sur la bordure forestière du plateau. L'étude de ces structures productives, qui intègrent l'arbre aux cultures vivrières, engendre une réflexion sur le processus probable de leur construction. Elle est étayée par une analyse du matériel ligneux qui les composent et par des entretiens avec des interlocuteurs privilégiés. Les logiques de production du paysan sont considérées dans le contexte écologique et social du pays Bamiléké. Ces systèmes agroforestiers perdent en hétérogénéité en se spécialisant, et leurs diverses productions ne se complètent plus aussi bien. L'analyse de leurs dynamiques pose le problème des modalités de leur reproduction à long terme et donc celui du développement "durable". La question est de savoir si les conditions du maintien de ces systèmes agroforestiers sur la parcelle sont encore réunies dans l'environnement socio-économique d'aujourd'hui., Gautier Denis. La diversité des systèmes agroforestiers bamiléké et ses évolutions contemporaines. In: Journal d'agriculture traditionnelle et de botanique appliquée, 36ᵉ année, bulletin n°2,1994. Phytogéographie tropicale : réalités et perspectives. Propos d'ethnobiologie, sous la direction de Jacques Barrau et Bernadette Lizet. pp. 159-178.

Making a study about landscape in an area situated out of landscape civilization, about societies who don't have a word for landscape, arises epistemological and methodological problems to geography. You will have to approach it indirectly : from perception and through speech about what is visible. Individual perceptions, sometimes spontaneous, sometimes prompted by the researcher, are analysed through personal experience, representation, ideals and values which are mobilized in this process. In that way, we can explore the determinations of perceptive process through the context and the circumstances of its expression. We have also looked at the motives which are appealing individuals to take into account what is visible. These motives show the deliberated and intentional character of this process. About fifty interviews revealed an interpretation of what is visible shared by everyone. A stereotyped conception of the group sustains this interpretation as well as a paysagement. A photographic exercice, realized with five interviewees, reveal another component of the relations of this population to the world : invisible forces (divinity, ancestors..., of which the people have to take account in order to ensure their reproduction. Thus, what is visible can appear differently according to the circumstance of its perception, and to the interests it can support. This study inquires about how what is visible interferes in the relationships between individuals and groups, as well as about the relations between ideal and material worlds in landscape production., Faire une étude sur le paysage en dehors des civilisations paysagères, à propos de sociétés n'ayant pas de mot pour le dire, pose d'emblée un problème épistémologique et méthodologique à la géographie. C'est par des chemins détournés, à partir de sa perception et au travers des discours portés sur le visible que le paysage peut être approché. Les perceptions individuelles, tantôt spontanées, tantôt provoquées par le chercheur, sont analysées au travers du vécu, des représentations, des idéaux et des valeurs qu'elles mobilisent. Il s'agit ainsi d'explorer les déterminations du processus perceptif à partir du contexte et des circonstances de son expression. Les motivations engageant les individus à la prise en compte du visible ont également été recherchées. Elles expriment le caractère intentionnel et intentionné de ce processus. Une cinquantaine d'entretiens ont permis de révéler une interprétation commune du visible. Elle est produite à partir d'une conception stéréotypée des groupes qui inspire en outre un paysagement. Un exercice de prises de vue, réalisé avec quelques personnes, révèle une autre composante du rapport de ces populations au monde : les forces de l'invisible avec lesquelles elles doivent composer (divinités, ancêtres, etc) pour assurer leur reproduction. Le visible peut ainsi apparaître différemment aux Hommes, en fonction des circonstances de sa perception et des intérêts qu'elle doit soutenir. Cette étude interroge l'intervention du visible dans les rapports entre individus et groupes, Hommes et espace, et dans la construction des identités et territoires, et questionne les relations entre idéel et matériel dans la production paysagère.

HLA class I diversity (loci A, B and C) was analysed in four populations, two from North Cameroon (Podokwo and Uldeme) and two from South Cameroon (Ewondo and Bamileke). Northern and southern Cameroon populations show a substantial genetic diversity in terms of haplotype sharing and genetic distances, even despite the low percentage of variance due to differences among populations evidenced by analysis of molecular variance. The signals of differentiation among populations are consistent with their linguistic affiliation, and support previous evidence, based on autosomal microsatellites and protein loci, which has shown that the complex pattern of genetic variation of Cameroon can in part be described by contrasting the northern and southern part of the country. Looking at our results in the more general framework of HLA diversity in sub-Saharan Africa, it turns out that the Podokwo and Uldeme show some genetic links to populations of the southern western branch of the Sahel corridor, while their high frequency of A*02 and C*04 alleles is congruent with previously hypothesised introgression of non-sub-Saharan alleles. On the other hand, signals of shared ancestry between the Bamileke and Ewondo and the Bantu speakers from central and southern Africa were detected.

The Eastern Pygmies from Zaire and Western Pygmies from Cameroon, Congo, and the Central African Republic represent the two principal groups of African Pygmies. In the "recent divergence" hypothesis in which Western Pygmies are thought to be the result of hybridization between the ancestors of Eastern Pygmies and Bantu farmers who penetrated the equatorial belt and came into contact with Pygmies around 2-3 kiloyears ago. On the basis of recent archaeological research in the tropical rain forest, we propose a "pre-Bantu divergence" hypothesis, which posits the separation between the ancestors of Eastern and Western Pygmies earlier than 18 kiloyears ago. In order to test the two hypotheses, we analyzed the variation of the hypervariable region 1 of the mitochondrial DNA in the Mbenzele, Western Pygmies of the Central African Republic, and compared our results with those of previous mtDNA and Y chromosome studies. Distribution, sequence variation, and age of haplogroups along with genetic distances among populations, estimates of divergence times, and simulations based on the coalescent approach were found to be congruent with the pre-Bantu divergence but failed to support the recent divergence hypothesis.

Seven Y-chromosome microsatellite loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, and DYS393) were analyzed in three populations from sub-Saharan Africa: the Bamileke and Ewondo populations from Cameroon and the Hutu from Rwanda. Complete typing was obtained for 112 individuals, and a total of 53 different haplotypes was observed. The single-locus gene diversity, averaged across populations, ranges from 0.100 for the DYS392 locus to 0.610 for the DYS389I locus. The haplotype diversity ranges from 0.832 (Ewondo) to 0.965 (Hutu), with an intermediate value of 0.918 in the Bamileke. The diversity among Bamileke, Ewondo, Hutu, and other sub-Saharan populations selected from the literature was analyzed using both a classical (F(ST)) and a stepwise-based (R(ST)) genetic distance method. The pattern of interpopulational diversity based on F(ST) was congruent with anthropological knowledge, while that based on R(ST) revealed unexpected and unconvincing population affinities. From a practical point of view, our study indicates that Y-chromosome microsatellite data may provide useful information for analyses of interpopulational diversity among sub-Saharan populations if an adequate number of loci and individuals along with an appropriate genetic distance method are used. On a theoretical ground, we propose that the lesser performance of R(ST) compared to F(ST) could be explained by the important role played by genetic drift in shaping the relationships among examined populations.

Y. Marguerat — Entrepreneurs from the Highlands: Bamileke in Cameroon. Resume of a geography D. Lit. thesis on the Cameroon Bamileke written by one of them. This is the first attempt at a scientific description of their justly reputed entrepreneurship, which has led them to assume a pre-eminent position in the national economy. For evident political reasons, the hostile reactions of other Cameroonian groups are only alluded to in this otherwise fascinating account., Marguerat Yves. Des montagnards entrepreneurs : les Bamileke du Cameroun.. In: Cahiers d'études africaines, vol. 23, n°92, 1983. pp. 495-504.

Demographic Growth and Immigration in Yaoundé, Cameroun. Although it isn't included among the largest of the African cities, the capital of Cameroun has nevertheless experienced a strong and constant growth within the past twenty-five years. Today, immigration forms the principal activator of this growth, in particular as respects the ethnic groups of the Bamilekes and the Etons, which are tending to supplant the local Ewondo population. The youth of the inhabitants, the great importance given to tertiary activities, the spatial extension of the city, quarters at the limit of successfully containing their residents adjoining others where the population density is very low - all these factors present problems for which no solution is assured and that often require reflection going far beyond the urban setting., Bien qu'elle ne compte pas parmi les très grandes villes d'Afrique, la capitale du Cameroun n'en connaît pas moins une croissance démographique forte et constante depuis vingt-cinq ans. L'immigration constitue encore aujourd'hui le moteur principal de cette croissance, en particulier celle des Bamiléké et celle des Eton qui tendent à supplanter la population locale Ewondo . La jeunesse de la population, la prépondérance des activités tertiaires, l'extension spatiale de la ville, des quartiers à la limite du surpeuplement voisinant avec d'autres aux densités très faibles, posent des problèmes dont les solutions ne semblent pas acquises et qui exigent souvent une réflexion dépassant largement le cadre urbain., Franqueville André. Croissance démographique et immigration à Yaoundé. In: Cahiers d'outre-mer. N° 128 - 32e année, Octobre-décembre 1979. pp. 321-354.

The Commercial Space of the Bamileke. — The Bamileke have given themselves over to significant migrations either to the zones of agricultural colonization or towards the towns. The social system facilitates these departures and allows individual economics advancement. The principal success of the Bamileke is to have integrated to their advantage the modern commercial system by taking support from the traditional structures. At the present time the business middle classes are participating fully in these two worlds ; in time they will play an essential role in the control of the technostructure in Cameroon., Les Bamiléké se sont livrés à des migrations importantes soit dans les zones de colonisation agricole, soit vers les villes. Le système social facilite les départs, et permet la promotion économique des individus. La principale réussite des Bamiléké est d'avoir intégré à leur profit le système commercial moderne en prenant appui sur les structures traditionnelles. A l'heure actuelle, la bourgeoisie d'affaires participe pleinement à ces deux mondes. A terme, elle devrait jouer un rôle essentiel dans le contrôle de la technostructure au Cameroun., Champaud JacquesChampaud Jacques. L'espace commercial des Bamiléké. In: L'Espace géographique, tome 10, n°3, 1981. pp. 198-206.