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Research ArticleArticle

Patriarchal Obstruction and Female Responses to Wage Labor Recruitment in the Coastal Plantations of the Cameroon Development Corporation

DAMIAN T. AKARA and MELCHISEDEK CHETIMA
African Economic History, January 2021, 49 (2) 31-52; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/aeh.49.2.31
DAMIAN T. AKARA
Damian T. Akara () is a senior lecturer of history at the University of Maroua, Cameroon and consultant on institutions. He holds a PhD in Economic and Social History with interests in plantation systems and cross cultural and development studies.
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MELCHISEDEK CHETIMA
Melchisedek Chétima () holds a PhD in history and is a Professor of African History at the Université du Québec in Montréal (UQAM).
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Abstract

In 1947, most of the former German plantations at the coast of Cameroon were brought under the umbrella of a statutory body, the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC). Like the former German planters, the CDC management faced enormous difficulties in maintaining a stable labor force on its estates. As a result, it decided to recruit women on a permanent rather than casual basis as a strategy of keeping male workers and their families within the plantation locale and to put an end to the short spells of work by migrant laborers in the estates. Unfortunately, women’s favorable response to the call for recruitment in the plantations met with stiff resistance from some of their male kin. Against this background, this paper argues that in spite of attempted male obstruction, a number of women, especially from the Grassfields, defied the odds to force their way through the barriers of the established patriarchal order into the so-called “men’s reserve.” In seeking wage labor, women hoped to change the status quo with the ambition of gaining financial independence, which would eventually serve as backbone to their social and economic empowerment and emancipation.

KEYWORDS:
  • patriarchal obstruction
  • female responses
  • wage labor
  • plantations
  • Cameroon
  • © 2021 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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African Economic History: 49 (2)
African Economic History
Vol. 49, Issue 2
1 Jan 2021
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Patriarchal Obstruction and Female Responses to Wage Labor Recruitment in the Coastal Plantations of the Cameroon Development Corporation
DAMIAN T. AKARA, MELCHISEDEK CHETIMA
African Economic History Jan 2021, 49 (2) 31-52; DOI: 10.3368/aeh.49.2.31

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Patriarchal Obstruction and Female Responses to Wage Labor Recruitment in the Coastal Plantations of the Cameroon Development Corporation
DAMIAN T. AKARA, MELCHISEDEK CHETIMA
African Economic History Jan 2021, 49 (2) 31-52; DOI: 10.3368/aeh.49.2.31
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  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Plantation Origins and Labor Resource
    • Work Endeavor
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Keywords

  • patriarchal obstruction
  • female responses
  • wage labor
  • plantations
  • Cameroon
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