Petitioning for our Rights, Fighting for our Nation. The History of the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women, 1949-1960: The History of the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women, 1949-1960

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, “This book comes as a thirst quencher by showing that, far from occupying marginal positions, Cameroonian women played a central role in the history of Cameroonian and African politics.” Dr Lilian Lem Atanga, Senior Lecturer, Gender and Discourse Studies, Department of African Studies, University of Dschang, Cameroon Thousands of Cameroonian women played an essential role in the radically anti-colonial nationalist movement led by the Union of the Populations of Cameroon (UPC): they were the women of the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women (UDEFEC). Drawing on women nationalists’ petitions to the United Nations, one of the largest collections of political documents written by African women during the decolonization era, as well as archival research and oral interviews, this work shows how UDEFEC transcended ethnic, class, education and social divides, and popularized nationalism in both urban and rural areas through the Trust Territories of the Cameroons under French and British administration. Foregrounding issues such as economic autonomy and biological and agricultural fertility, UDEFEC politics wove anti-imperial democracy and notions of universal human rights into locally rooted political cultures and histories. UDEFEC’s history sheds light on the essential components of women’s successful political mobilization in Africa, and contributes to the discussion of women’s involvement in nationalist movements in formerly colonized territories. Meredith Terretta earned her PhD in African history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004. She teaches history at the University of Ottawa and specializes in themes of African nationalisms, decolonization, postcolonialism , and human rights. Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region ...