Quest for self-esteem : State, Islam, and Mundang ethnicity in northern Cameroon

In this anthropological work, ethnicity is approached from the vantage point of one particular group, the Mundang of northern Cameroon. The author carried out a field study among the Mundang of Kaele region during fifteen months in 1988-1990. The first three chapters of the book deal with the relationship between Mundang ethnicity and culture: features and blending of a Mundang cultural repertoire, kinship and ritual, notions of origin. Chapters four and five discuss Mundang ethnicity in the 19th century and the impact of colonial rule in the first half of the 20th century. The last three chapters are about the ambivalence and low profile of Mundang ethnicity after World War II as exhibited by different sections of the elite (Islamic chiefs, Christian missionaries and Church leaders, the urban State elite). The book concludes with a summary of the impact of cultural, historical and political factors on the ambivalence which is such a key feature of Mundang ethnicity