Paper short abstract:

This paper elucidates the rich diversity of how internally displaced persons in urban West Cameroon try to realign their lives in a makeshift environment and which resources they draw on.

Paper long abstract:

During the ongoing internal conflict in the two anglophone regions of Cameroon, numerous families have been displaced from their homelands to find themselves in makeshift homes in the francophone part of the country. As there seems no end of the political tensions in sight, the internally displaced persons (IDP) try to re-establish an "ordinary life" in an urban environment which is often marked by marginalization, lack of economic resources as well as deprivation and challenging future perspectives.

Based on ethnographic research in Bafoussam, the capital of the Cameroonian West region, this paper explores the diverse strategies of IDPs to settle into a life of yet unknown struggles and problems. Beyond that, the author illustrates the different practices that people develop, re-establish and adjust in a stage of life when not knowing what their future might bring and if they will ever return to their homelands. Furthermore, she illustrates fluid capabilities and engagements of internally displaced persons in their different forms. Within this realm, special attention is paid to the reconfiguration of social networks, gender roles and income sources. It is argued that the temporal character of the IDPs situation is characterized by contradictions and challenges but, at the same time, they take the chance to shape new networks and build on existing capacities to improvise their pending lives in an unknown setting and that impact on their future aspirations.