Chapter 6 Conclusions

CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSIONS

From what has been said, it is obvious that the social changes which have taken place in the Bangwa area during the past one hundred years are the result of a complex interaction of various internal and external factors. While the new developments or opportunities which arose in the fields of social relations, politics or economics challenged the existing social order and provoked a variety of reactions, the question of how and to what degree these produced social change depended upon the Bangwa society’s ability or inability to control their influence or activity. One important issue was where these new developments or opportunities originated from. Generally speaking, it would appear from the events I have outlined in Bangwa history that those innovations which had their source within Bangwa society had less capacity to create social disorganisation than those which arrived suddenly and unexpectedly from outside. This was because those innovations which were internally induced were often a response to the context within which they had been created. There is nothing new about the ‘new’ and all societies contain mechanisms for dealing with its appearance. Indeed, one might argue that this is the origin of social hierarchy and social power in every society, Bangwa society included. A stable society is one which has the means of controlling the new through effectively integrating or rejecting it.

The overturning of the social order, on the other hand, occurs more frequently when the ‘new’ has its origins outwith the society. The erosion of the Bangwa social hierarchy and the power that resided in it seems to have been in direct proportion

to the potential of the new developments and opportunities to bring about social disorganisation. In the case of Bangwa during the post-independence period this resulted in two distinct trends. The first was a fragmentation of the society, unified artificially during the colonial period, into the older social and political units of the villages. This trend was also accompanied by a rise in animosity and rivalry between them particularly when they vied with one another for social developments such as hospitals, government offices, etc. However, in terms of social order, a vacuum has been created by the loss of power on the part of the chiefs and by the Government’s inability to be effective at a local level. Bangwa society has coped with this internally through the organisation of development associations ruled by the village elites. The fact that the elites spend most of their time outwith the area points to the second trend which has resulted from social disorganisation, namely, the absorption of Bangwa society into the larger society of Cameroon. The elites, in fact, can be regarded as a bridge between the two societies. This trend of being absorbed into a larger society began with British colonial rule when the new developments or opportunities which owed their origin outwith the Bangwa area began to make themselves felt. The process continued into the post-independence period but has been temporarily halted because of the economic crisis.

In all of the cases of an external precipitant of social change we had, in fact, a single innovation present in two different social contexts. The policy of Indirect Rule, the plantations, the coastal economy and government administration, for example, arose outwith the Bangwa area in response to the specific economic and political needs and circumstances of colonial and national governments which sought to extend social, economic and political control over the whole country.

Within the context of Bangwa society, however, the imposition of a new political order or the availability of new economic opportunities not only undermined the social order but required a reorientation of the social structures towards the external authority which created and controlled the new order in the first place. The only alternative to the whole process was revolt on the part of the Bangwa. While this did take place under Asonganyi during the period of German colonial rule, during the post-colonial period rebellion was no longer possible given that the only local form of government, the chiefs, were no longer capable of coordinating any concerted resistance. Any attempt at resistance on the part of chiefs, such as Asonganyi’s hostility towards the Christian missionaries, ultimately foundered on the common Bangwa people’s reaction to many of these external influences. Many of the new economic opportunities which arose from the 1940’s onwards resulted in the decline of the chiefs’ economic monopoly. It also gave the ordinary Bangwa greater freedom to further their own personal independence, something which we have seen was integral to the highly competitive Bangwa social system. It is not surprising that that eagerness to venture beyond the boundaries of the traditional economic system soon extended beyond the intellectual and spiritual ones as well. The changes which have occurred in Bangwa, therefore, are not simply the result of external influences or agents producing an almost automatic, predetermined effect. They widened the ordinary individual’s room for manoeuvre as well as created new possibilities. Ultimately, then, it was the ordinary Bangwa who brought about social change by accepting the opportunities presented by external influences. To summarise it in almost Marxist terms, the process of social change in Bangwa was effected through the marriage of external influences and the class struggle inherent within the Bangwa social system.

Another issue which has been examined is how the new development or opportunity is introduced into the society in which it then precipitates social change. The arrival of colonial agents, visiting missionaries or government workers are examples of how innovation was introduced through a complete stranger to the society. On the other hand, the men returning from the plantations is an example of how change is introduced through the network of social relations between one society and another. The settlement of outside agents within Bangwa society has shown how an innovation consolidates its presence within the society and perpetuates its influence, particularly if the traditional structures of social power have been weakened or even overthrown. While both the colonial authorities and the early Christian missionaries purposely sought to undermine or manipulate the traditional social order to their own advantage, the case of the Focolare Movement is an interesting exception. Its attitude of cooperation in social and material ventures has enabled it to become progressively more integrated into Bangwa society. However, the enormous changes which have taken place within Bangwa society present that organisation with considerable challenges in terms of its more spiritual aims of promoting unity and Christian values. Since traditional codes of morality and religious belief appear to hold less and less sway as urban culture comes to dominate ordinary life, the increasing acceptance of the Movement as a spiritual force by more and more Bangwa people perhaps indicates that it is perhaps becoming a source of alternative moral and ethical values. This trend, along with the emergence of the village development associations, would seem to suggest that Bangwa society is in the early stages of trying to reconstruct a new social order both in terms of its relationship with itself and with the wider Cameroonian society. The reason that this process in Bangwa is perhaps acutely internal in character at

the moment is because of the inability of the government to both create a substantial national consciousness and to be effective at a local level. However, although what is taking place in Bangwa is typical of communities throughout Cameroon, it is not a denial of Bangwa’s integration into the modern nation-state. What we are seeing in Bangwa and other communities is, in fact, the initial stirrings leading to the creation of the nation-state itself. Post-independent governments throughout sub-Saharan Africa have largely been ineffective because of the false assumption that they are truly national. Nations are not simply created by colonial dictates or by presidential orders. They can only come into existence when separate communities also willingly unite themselves economically, politically and socially. That is an action of the people.

The social changes which have transformed Bangwa may have destroyed the old order, the old security and the old boundaries but the Bangwa people’s proven ability to struggle against all the odds, be it difficult terrain, disease or changing times, will surely enable them to continue to assert their unique identity and qualities. That strength, hopefully, will also ensure that they will prosper in and contribute to the wider society of Cameroon.