Williams Pokam Kamdem

Williams Pokam Kamdem is a lecturer-researcher at the University of Dschang. His research focuses primarily on the economic and social history of Cameroon, with particular interests in the history of energy, public policy, and economic integration in Africa. He was a Fellow at the Nantes Institute for Advanced Study in 2019–2020 and a visiting researcher at the University of Nantes.

The project

Title: Standardizing statistics in colonial situations: UN standard questionnaires in Africa, between norms and sources (1946-1952)

"Statistics have conquered the contemporary world. Through them, figures have established themselves as the ultimate indicators of the evolution of human societies. After World War II, the development of international statistics was remarkable. Their usefulness in understanding and comparing countries and territories became apparent throughout the world. In Africa, which was swept by European imperialism, statistical surveys took on greater importance in this context, with the aim of informing, measuring, justifying, or questioning colonial efforts. International organizations led the effort to standardize the production of figures to ensure their comparability. This research explores the importance that the United Nations (UN) has attached to harmonizing statistical production in territories under foreign administration in Africa, through the development of standards and data collection tools such as standard questionnaires. The research is largely based on sources from this international organization and on literature relating to colonial and international statistics on the continent. It turns out that, following in the footsteps of the League of Nations, the UN promoted the harmonization and exchange of statistical information on African colonies and trust territories. This approach served to build up significant sources of information on the economic history of countries in the region."

Hosting Institution : Maison Européenne des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société (MESHS) 

Selective Bibliography

• L’énergie au Cameroun au XXe siècle : entre la puissance publique et les entreprises, une histoire intriquée, Berne, Peter Lang, 2021.
• Petit dictionnaire d’histoire de la Réunification du Cameroun, Dschang, Premières Lignes, 2020.
• « Décentralisation et électrification : expériences et défis des communes de l'Ouest-Cameroun », Grassfields. Revue des sciences historiques, vol.2, 2022, pp.59-82.
• « Devenir pétrolier et le rester. Une histoire de la quête d’hydrocarbures au Cameroun (1904-2000) », Journal gabonais d’histoire économique et sociale (JGHES), n°9, janvier-juin 2022, pp.61-80.
• « ‘Il faudrait laisser nos associés aller au feu les premiers’ : risques, incertitudes et prudence dans l’industrie du gaz au Cameroun (1980-1983) », Histoire, économie & société, n°2, 2020, pp.127-143.