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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Crossing Rural-Urban Spaces: The Takumbeng and Activism in Cameroon's Democratic Crusade
Authors:Fonchingong, Charles C.ISNI
Tanga, Pius T.ISNI
Year:2007
Periodical:Cahiers d'études africaines
Volume:47
Issue:185
Pages:117-143
Language:English
Geographic term:Cameroon
Subjects:women's organizations
secret societies
protest
political action
Politics and Government
Women's Issues
Development and Technology
Cultural Roles
Sex Roles
External link:https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesafricaines.6721
Abstract:The article focuses on the power women wielded within secret societies and other women's 'enclaves' in Cameroon and beyond. It shows how this power is continuously being transformed in the modern political landscape. Women's riots, protests and demonstrations have been recorded in various communities in Cameroon and elsewhere in Africa but this paper looks in particular at the 'Takumbeng' traditional women's society and its politicization in the context of multiparty politics and democratization. The paper examines the transformation of the group against the backdrop of collective agitation and how it impacted on a political environment which was marked by disenchantment with the undemocratic policies of the national government. The paper reveals the symbolism and metaphors, the cultural interplay and raison d'être behind the group's activism through the lenses of the actors in an urban environment. It concludes that the group enhanced the continuing struggle for democratization through its legacy of resistance, restoring the flame of social democracy, and raising political consciousness in the Northwest Province of Cameroon, a bastion of the opposition party, the Social Democratic Front. Bibliogr, notes, sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]
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