Cultural Pluralism in State Formation, a Perspective in Resolving the Anglophone Conflict in Cameroon
Keywords:
Cultural Pluralism, State Formation, Anglophone conflict, Conflict Resolution, Conflict ManagementAbstract
African state was born from decolonization unlike the European states that were born from civil state and ethno-state system by homogenizing all the different identities that existed. African states were heterogeneous before the European colonization of Africa, the content was partition among the European nations without taken in to consideration the different identities that existed in Africa and the homogenized them with their notions and idea to form a single entity as a state. In context of Cameroon it was colonized by the Germans but following the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the Germans were defeated and all their territory sized and handed to Britain and France and they partition the territory. France took majority while Britain took the smaller part. And each introduces their culture, administrative styles and values. On the eve of independence British Southern Cameroon gained independence by joining French Cameroon that had already had independence a year earlier. This created the majority and minority issues in a pluralistic society as each tries to exercised their cultural values and maintain their identity but the majority marginalized and suppressed the minority. This resulted to the Anglophone conflict in Cameroon. The research explored conflict management mechanism that can mitigate and resolve the conflict. The research used a qualitative approach, a case study design was employed, the researcher interviewed 15 respondents, thematically, and the article used the Centrepetalist theory. Finding revealed that, negotiation, mediation, problem-solving workshop, reconciliation, restorative justice, and conflict resolution in a worst case situation. The article recommends that the both parties most show and demonstrate political willingness to see the conflict resolve.
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