Abstract :
Most work on the political implications of hometown associations has focused
on male elites. This contribution attends instead to the gendered varieties of
hometown associations, exploring variations in the bases of shared identity
among six Bamiléké women’s hometown associations – hailing from Ndé
Division, Western Province, and organized in both elite and neighbourhoodbased
non-elite associations – in Yaoundé, Cameroon. It suggests several
ways to reconceptualize hometown associations and belonging. Addressing
the situationally specific ways Bamiléké women use and interpret ‘home’,
the unit of belonging, it differentiates among actors and associations by
gender and status. Viewing the autochthony debate from the perspective
of allogènes, it reveals that the emotions of memory, marginalization and
recognition are central to belonging, understandings of home, and involvement
in hometown associations. Finally, it suggests that differences in associations’
network structure affect both orientations and actions toward the home
place, and at times an ‘ethnicization’ of ‘home’. The non-elite hometown
associations exhibit the dense, bounded networks of ‘urban villages’ and
strive to bring ‘home’ to the city. Members of elite hometown associations
are urbanites, developing social networks consisting of more diverse and
specialized ties, which may account for more universalistic discourse about
bringing ‘development’ to the hometown
