The character and value of vernacular security: the case of South West Cameroon

ABSTRACT

This article reports the findings of field research into the vernacular understanding of security in South West Cameroon. It was found that security significantly contested; it is both objective and subjective; it is communal, whilst at the same time requiring individual l responsibility of personal security; it favours certainty and stability; it draws on a multiplicity of providers, and it goes beyond traditional conceptualisations. The findings make it clear that there are wide divergences between the typical state and donor driven security reform programmes, and people’s perceived security needs. The definition of security is challenged by popular understandings. In addition, though not rejecting the need for state security, it is evident that many more actors are engaged in security provision and personal safety than state actors, and that these actors need to be accounted for in reform programmes. Conclusion draw out advantages of the vernacular approach in security reform programmes.

KEYWORDS:

• Vernacular security
• contested security
• security studies
• International Relations
• security in Cameroon

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Bruce Baker is Professor of African Security at Coventry University, UK. His research and publications cover African policing, security and justice reform, local justice and governance. He has undertaken research and consultancies in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Rwanda, Uganda, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, Seychelles, Liberia, South Sudan, Comoros, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Afghanistan. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Manu Lekunze, Politics and International Relations, University of Aberdeen. His research interests are in International Security, Africa in the international system and Complexity Science in International Relations. He can be contacted at [email protected]

ORCID

Manu Lekunze http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3979-180X

Notes

1 The data discussed in this paper was collected in 2015 before the outbreak of the low-level civil war taking place in Cameroon at present. In 2016 Anglophone activists initiated a protest against perceived marginalisation of English-speaking Cameroonians. It has since degenerated into an armed conflict between several separatist groups and the government of Cameroon. The situation led to thousands of refugees and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people. At the time of writing, there a little signs of the conflict abating.