Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology

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Browsing Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology by browse.metadata.advisor "Bekker, Simon"

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    L’influence de l’ethnicite sur le commerce frontalier: le cas de la ville de Kye-Ossi au Sud Cameroun
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Medjo, Michel Bertin; Bekker, Simon; Essomba, Philippe Blaise; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since their accession to international sovereignty, many countries of sub-Saharan Africa, despite attempts to integrate around regional or sub-regional groupings, still remain mired in economic adversity. Faced with this weakening of integration, populations beset by unemployment and poverty have turned to cross-border trade in order to ensure their social protection. In Cameroon, numerous research projects initiated since 1960 have attempted to explain the influx of populations into border trade by the State's inability to provide for their basic needs in the formal sector. In these studies, the influence of ethnicity on border trade has received little attention. This thesis addresses an overlooked aspect on trade in Cameroon: the influence of ethnicity on border trade in the town of Kyé-Ossi, located at the intersection between three countries: Cameroon -Gabon-Equatorial Guinea. This study combines both the historical and sociological method (socio-history) in its analysis of the recent attractiveness of the Kyé-Ossi market. The research represents a first direct study of the influence of ethnicity on border trade in Cameroon and in the town of Kyé-Ossi, in particular. It confirms the importance of economic variables in market towns that influence net migration flows towards Kyé-Ossi whilst providing evidence regarding the impact of ethnicity on the negotiation of prices, the easy flow of goods and the practice of illegal trade. Qualitative data show that such cultural identities are important in certain places and on certain occasions during regular market activities in Kyé-Ossi.