The Intestines of the State: Youth, Violence, and Belated Histories in the Cameroon Grassfields

The young people of the Cameroon Grassfields have been subject to a long history of violence and political marginalization. For centuries the main victims of the slave trade, they became prime targets for forced labor campaigns under a series of colonial rulers. Today’s youth remain at the bottom of the fiercely hierarchical and polarized societies of the Grassfields, and it is their response to centuries of exploitation that Nicolas Argenti takes up in this absorbing and original book. Beginning his study with a political analysis of youth in the Grassfields from the eighteenth century to the present, Argenti pays special attention to the repeated violent revolts staged by young victims of political oppression. He then combines this history with extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the Oku chiefdom, discovering that the specter of past violence lives on in the masked dance performances that have earned intense devotion from today’s youth. Argenti contends that by evoking the imagery of past cataclysmic events, these masquerades allow young Oku men and women to address the inequities they face in their relations with elders and state authorities today.

History

Argenti, Nicolas

Africa

University of Chicago Press

The young people of the Cameroon Grassfields have been subject to a long history of violence and political marginalization. For centuries the main victims of the slave trade, they became prime targets for forced labor campaigns under a series of colonial rulers. Today’s youth remain at the bottom of the fiercely hierarchical and polarized societies of the Grassfields, and it is their response to centuries of exploitation that Nicolas Argenti takes up in this absorbing and original book. Beginning his study with a political analysis of youth in the Grassfields from the eighteenth century to the present, Argenti pays special attention to the repeated violent revolts staged by young victims of political oppression. He then combines this history with extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the Oku chiefdom, discovering that the specter of past violence lives on in the masked dance performances that have earned intense devotion from today’s youth. Argenti contends that by evoking the imagery of past cataclysmic events, these masquerades allow young Oku men and women to address the inequities they face in their relations with elders and state authorities today.

Drawing on research conducted on Chios during the sovereign debt crisis that struck Greece in 2010, Nicolas Argenti follows the lives of individuals who symbolize the transformations affecting this Aegean island. As witnesses to the crisis speak of their lives, however, their current anxieties and frustrations are expressed in terms of past crises that have shaped the dramatic history of Chios, including the German occupation in World War II and the ensuing famine, the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey of 1922–23, and the Massacres of 1822 that decimated the island at the outset of the Greek War of Independence. The complex temporality that emerges in these accounts is ensconced in a cultural context of commemorative ritual, ecstatic visions, an annual rocket war, and other embodied practices that contribute to forms of memory production that question the assumptions of the trauma discourse, revealing the islanders of Chios to be active in forging their place in time in a manner that blurs the boundaries between historiography, memory, religion, and myth. 
 A member of the Chiot diaspora, Argenti makes use of unpublished correspondence from survivors of the Massacres of 1822 and their descendants and reflects on oral family histories and silences in which the island represents an enigmatic but palpable absence. As he explores the ways in which a body of memory and a cultural experience of temporality came to be dislocated and shared between two populations, his return to Chios marks an encounter in which the traditional roles of ethnographer and participant come to be dispersed and intertwined.

Remembering Absence: The Sense of Life in Island Greece (New Anthropologies of Europe)

Europe

Indiana University Press

Drawing on research conducted on Chios during the sovereign debt crisis that struck Greece in 2010, Nicolas Argenti follows the lives of individuals who symbolize the transformations affecting this Aegean island. As witnesses to the crisis speak of their lives, however, their current anxieties and frustrations are expressed in terms of past crises that have shaped the dramatic history of Chios, including the German occupation in World War II and the ensuing famine, the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey of 1922–23, and the Massacres of 1822 that decimated the island at the outset of the Greek War of Independence. The complex temporality that emerges in these accounts is ensconced in a cultural context of commemorative ritual, ecstatic visions, an annual rocket war, and other embodied practices that contribute to forms of memory production that question the assumptions of the trauma discourse, revealing the islanders of Chios to be active in forging their place in time in a manner that blurs the boundaries between historiography, memory, religion, and myth. 
A member of the Chiot diaspora, Argenti makes use of unpublished correspondence from survivors of the Massacres of 1822 and their descendants and reflects on oral family histories and silences in which the island represents an enigmatic but palpable absence. As he explores the ways in which a body of memory and a cultural experience of temporality came to be dislocated and shared between two populations, his return to Chios marks an encounter in which the traditional roles of ethnographer and participant come to be dispersed and intertwined.

In Africa, children and young people face crisis. Child death rates are rising, and educational enrolment is falling. Children are victims in every war. Millions of young Africans are contracting HIV and AIDS. Neglected by society, Africa's youth are attracted to militarism and militant religion. Young Africa pioneers new thinking on the rights of children and young people in Africa and offers new approaches to tackling the violation of the rights of young Africans. This book argues: 7We must take child rights seriously. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child lays down fundamental legal obligations on governments and the international community. 7Africa's children are poor. Realistically, it may take a generation to overcome the problems of extreme poverty, ill-health, and illiteracy. 7Young Africans are creatively remaking their societies. Young people are not just victims; they are seeking ingenious solutions to their marginalization. Africa's religious vibrancy is led by the young. 7Demilitarizing Africa's youth means granting them democratic rights. A lasting solution to the problem of child soldiers requires giving young people a role in civil politics. 7HIV/AIDS is the number one threat to Africa's teenagers. A new openness about young people's sexuality is essential. 7The world will benefit from investing in Africa's children. Promoting the health, education, and protection of children is essential for development, peace, and security. Young Africa provides a new framework for approaching the entirety of child rights with far-reaching implications for policies. Preface by Urban Jonsson, Director Eastern & Southern Africa, UNICEF. Foreword by K. Y. Amoako,Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa.

Young Africa: Realising the Rights of Children and Youth

Waal, Alex de

Business & Money

Afirca World Press

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Books by Argenti, Nicolas

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Argenti, Nicolas. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Intestines of the State: Youth, Violence, and Belated Histories in the Cameroon Grassfields

The Intestines of the State: Youth, Violence, and Belated Histories in the Cameroon Grassfields

Remembering Absence: The Sense of Life in Island Greece (New Anthropologies of Europe)

Remembering Absence: The Sense of Life in Island Greece (New Anthropologies of Europe)

Young Africa: Realising the Rights of Children and Youth