Robert Mbe Akoko (2021–22; 2022–23)

Fellowship Work Summary, 2022–23

Robert Akoko is an associate professor of anthropology from Cameroon. He is a product of the universities of Ibadan Nigeria and Leiden in the Netherlands. He is the chair of the Department of Communication and Development Studies of the University of Bamenda Cameroon. Prior to occupying this position, he was chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Buea Cameroon, where he is still on staff. His current research focus is a project titled New Religious Movements: A Study of Pentecostalism in Africa and the United States of America (a project which is coordinated and sponsored by Charles University Prague, Department of Philosophy and History of Science, with the collaboration of the University of Buea, Cameroon).

Selected Publications

• Karel Kleisner, Juan David Leongómez, Katarzyna Pisanski, Vojtěch Fiala, Clément Cornec, Agata Groyecka-Bernard, Marina Butovskaya, David Reby, Piotr Sorokowski, and Akoko, Robert Mbe. “Predicting Strength from Aggressive Vocalizations Versus Speech in African Bushmen and Urban Communities.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 376, no. 1840 (December 2021): 1-10.
• Fiala, Vojtěch, Vít Třebický, Farid Pazhoohi, Juan David Leongómez, Petr Tureček, S. Adil Saribay, Robert Mbe Akoko, and Karel Kleisner. “Facial Attractiveness and Preference for Sexual Dimorphism: A Comparison across Five Populations.” Evolutionary Human Sciences 3 (2021): 1-24.
• Mbuagbo, Oben T., and Robert Mbe Akoko. “Balancing Material Prosperity with Spiritual Growth for Effective Christian Citizenship: The Case of Women of Full Gospel Mission Cameroon.” International Journal of Modern Anthropology 2, no. 12 (2019): 80-95.
• Akoko, Robert Mbe. “Economic Crisis and Imaginative Response: Upsurge in Traditional Medical Practices among Youths in Cameroon.” In Fractures and Connections: Civic Action, Redefining African Political and Economic Spaces: Studies in Honor of Piet J.J. Konings, edited by J. Abbink, 87-111. Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2012.
• Akoko, Robert Mbe. “Ask and You Shall be Given”: Pentecostalism and the Economic Crisis in Cameroon. African Studies Collection. Leiden: African Studies Centre, 2007.
• Akoko, Robert Mbe and Oben Mbuagbo. “Christian Churches and the Democratization Conundrum in Cameroon.” Africa Today, 52, no. 13 (2006): 25-50.