A Tribute to Professor Michael John Rowlands: A Legacy of Scholarship, Collaboration, and Enduring Friendship

By Francis B. Nyamnjoh*

A Personal Loss: Remembering a Mentor and Friend

It is with profound sadness that I share news of the passing of Professor Michael John Rowlands on July 19, 2025. Born on November 2, 1944, Rowlands was an Emeritus Professor of Material Culture at University College London (UCL). This tribute celebrates his legacy of scholarship, collaboration, and enduring friendship. For me, it is a personal loss, as I remember a mentor and friend.

His academic journey began at the University of London, where he earned his BA in 1966, followed by an MPhil and PhD in Archaeology in 1972. His PhD research focused on Bronze Age Europe, specifically examining funerary furniture as an indicator of local and regional social and political hierarchies in connection with local and long-distance trade. However, he was dissatisfied with archaeology as a scientific pursuit and the way topics like social hierarchies were tackled. He decided to work on an actual or sub-actual situation that could be compared to his Bronze Age findings, seeking to theorise these observations from an anthropological perspective. Material culture was a key issue due to his work on funerary furniture, but he was also dissatisfied with its analysis and theorisation. He joined UCL as a lecturer in Anthropology in 1973, progressing to Professor and later co-director of a research centre in 2013. Rowlands made truly substantial scholarly contributions to the anthropology and history of Cameroon.

Beyond his individual achievements, his work was deeply woven into a vibrant intellectual tapestry, characterised by direct collaboration and extensive intellectual dialogue with a distinguished cohort of scholars, myself included.

I first met Michael in 1984 at the University of Yaounde. Our meeting was suggested by my professor and his long-time collaborator, Jean-Pierre Warnier. Our connection deepened when I began my PhD at the University of Leicester in 1986. Michael and his wife, Sue (after whom my daughter would be named in 1997), became like family to me during my student days in Britain, even attending my graduation in July 1989, an honour I cherished deeply. For over 40 years, our relationship blossomed, with Michael’s last email expressing his wish for me to “Please stay in touch with Sue, Max and Josh so that they can continue our friendship”. He was, truly, a friend, a mentor, a brother, and a confidant.

Michael was one of the smartest minds I knew, constantly bubbling with insights and ideas. There was never a dull moment in his presence. Innovative and intellectually resourceful, he was a constant inspiration to both students and colleagues. Discerning, witty, and honest, there was no beating around the bush with him. He possessed a fascinating ability to differentiate between various types of intelligence and could discerningly read boring guests and those with a cruel sense of humour. His enduring commitment as a student of civilisations and processes was matched only by his receptiveness, which spoke volumes of his eclecticism and curiosity.

Until 2017, when the regional crisis made it impossible, we undertook annual research visits to North West and South West Cameroon since the early 2000s. These trips often involved driving the Ring Road and attending annual events at various palaces, such as Fon Angwafo III’s Golden Jubilee in 2009. We also visited Lakabum, the palace of my childhood in the kingdom of Bum, where he was honoured with the title of Be-Fon (Father of the Fon) by Fon Peter Kwanga. The last time we physically met was in October 2022 when he proudly drove us from London to the University of Cambridge to attend my son, Anye’s doctoral graduation. I will deeply miss our conversations over palm wine, Guinness, and suya, our shared thrills and disappointments as Arsenal fans, and our collective laughs and frustrations.

Michael Rowland’s Core Research and Contributions to Material Culture and Heritage Studies

Michael’s core research consistently revolved around the theorisation and conceptualisation of cultural heritage and material culture. He focused on developing robust theoretical frameworks rather than merely descriptive accounts. His extensive fieldwork across West Africa, including Cameroon and post-conflict Liberia, explored the historical development and contemporary roles of postcolonial museums. He also conducted comparative studies of cultural heritage initiatives in Mali and Cameroon, and fieldwork on private museum initiatives in China. Rowlands’ engagement also extended to the Kwara’ae people of Malaita in the Solomon Islands, on whose history, culture, artifacts, and oral literature he published extensively. This global perspective reflects his approach to understanding how heritage is constructed, managed, and contested across various post-imperial settings, enabling broader theoretical generalisations about decolonisation, memory, and repair.

A crucial lens through which Rowlands approached heritage was the “neoliberalisation of heritage in Africa”, examining how economic and social interventions shaped heritage landscapes and policies. A standout publication illustrating his deep engagement with Cameroonian contexts is his 2011 work, “Of Substances, Palaces and Museums: The Visible and the Invisible in the Constitution of Cameroon”. This piece beautifully exemplifies his enduring interest in how material objects and cultural institutions shape national identity and collective memory within the country.

Rowlands played a pivotal role in advancing the study of material culture beyond the mere analysis of artifacts, consistently emphasising the dynamic relationship between objects and social and political processes. He explored “the material culture of memory,” delving into how objects embody, transmit, and shape both collective and individual memories. His conceptualisation of “the temporality of objects” further highlights how material forms are imbued with history and actively contribute to the construction of memory over extended periods. He also introduced and elaborated the theoretical framework of “assemblage,” explaining how objects, people, and practices coalesce into dynamic configurations that actively shape social realities. This fundamental shift in perspective meant that Rowlands viewed material culture as an active agent in social formation, rather than simply a passive reflection of culture. His collaboration with Chris Tilley on “materiality” and “phenomenology” was instrumental in deepening the theoretical understanding of human-object interactions and the lived experience of material worlds.

Michael’s influence extends profoundly into the field of heritage studies, where he played a foundational role in establishing the UCL Centre for Heritage. Central to his work in this area is his “critical approach to heritage,” which fundamentally questions its perceived neutrality and exposes its inherent political dimensions. He viewed heritage not as a given, immutable entity, but as a contested site of power, identity, and representation. This critical lens is evident in his discussions of “museums and representation,” where he meticulously examined how objects are displayed and interpreted, and how these practices shape public narratives and national identities. His engagement with “cultural property and restitution,” particularly in post-colonial contexts, further demonstrates the ethical and political implications of his critical heritage work.

Collaborations and Intellectual Dialogues

Beyond our direct work, Michael’s scholarship profoundly shaped my own conversations in the field of communication. His collaborative and conversational approach extended to many other esteemed colleagues.

With Francis Nyamnjoh (myself) : Elite Politics and Belonging

I had the distinct privilege of direct collaboration with Michael on “Elite associations and the politics of belonging in Cameroon”. This paper allowed us to critically examine how the mobilisation of regional elites for political purposes in postcolonial Cameroon increasingly adopted an “ethnic tone,” with claims to indigenous origins and hostility towards “strangers” becoming central to exclusionary rhetoric. We argued that this trend, far from fostering genuine multipartyism, instead led to local regional ethnic politics vying for “party” status and access to state resources. His strong endorsement of my book, “#RhodesMustFall: Nibbling at Resilient Colonialism in South Africa,” where he poignantly stated, “Cobbling identities may be our way of preserving ourselves in new conditions of modernity,” truly underscored our shared intellectual concern for how identities are constructed and maintained in dynamic and often challenging modern contexts.

With Jean-Pierre Warnier: Embodiment, Power, and the Grassfields

Michael’s intellectual kinship with Jean-Pierre Warnier was evident in their co-authored work, “Sorcery, power, and the modern state in Cameroon” (1988). This collaboration showcased an early, shared interest in the intricate connections between traditional power structures, occult forces, and the emerging modern state in Cameroon. Their shared empirical focus on the Grassfields, a region central to their analyses of power, material culture, and societal transformation, provided rich common ground for their theoretical explorations. While Michael focused on cultural heritage, museums, and national identity through material culture, Jean-Pierre’s “praxeological approach” emphasised the embodied and performative dimensions of material culture, offering a powerful complement to Michael’s more macro-institutional analysis. Jean-Pierre Warnier recalls that the paper on sorcery was initially intended as a chapter in a larger book project covering their major research themes, but Michael pushed for its immediate publication, which put the rest of the project on hold.

Jean-Pierre Warnier recounts that Michael’s decision to pursue anthropological work in Cameroon was rooted in his dissatisfaction with archaeology, and specifically the way social hierarchies were approached within the field. Michael sought to analyse an actual or sub-actual situation comparable to his Bronze Age research to further theorise his observations from an anthropological perspective. Material culture was a key issue for him, but he was also dissatisfied with its existing analysis and theorisation. Phil Burnham, a friend of Jean-Pierre who had conducted research in Cameroon, suggested Jean-Pierre’s work around Bamenda since 1972 would be relevant to Michael’s interests. This led to Michael and Sue visiting Jean-Pierre in Zaria in early 1976. They decided to collaborate around Bamenda on local and regional hierarchies, long-distance trade, economic specialisations, market exchange, and material culture. Michael and Sue conducted their first year-long fieldwork in Mankon-Bamenda from 1976-1977, with Jean-Pierre taking over in 1977-1978. They shared all field-notes and collaborated on these topics. Subsequently, Michael published a significant work with Jonathan Friedman on an epigenetic model of the evolution of social systems and social hierarchies. After 1978, they remained in constant contact, and Michael visited Mankon and Yaoundé, where Jean-Pierre taught from 1979 to 1985. These collaborations were crucial for Jean-Pierre to complete his French Doctorat d’Etat in 1983.

These years also saw the launch of the “Grassfields Working Group,” which met in France at Jean-Pierre’s mother’s house. Participants included Tardits, Sally Chilver, Christraud Geary, Richard Dillon, Paul Nkwi, Ian Fowler, De Maret, Njeuma, and others, engaging in comparative work on Grassfields palaces, hierarchies, and long-distance trade. Several issues of Paideuma contain publications on these topics.

From 1973 onwards, Jean-Pierre promoted archaeological research in the Grassfields due to dissatisfaction with oral migration narratives. In 1974, he identified five major archaeological sites in the Bamenda region. Asombang, Fowler, Jean-Pierre himself, and then De Maret began research on these sites, disproving the tales of a recent people history in the Grassfields. A chronostratigraphy was quickly established, demonstrating the Neolithic origin of Grassfields people and the very long evolutionary history of their social systems. Michael’s role was crucial in establishing links with the Institute of Archaeology in London and providing remote tutoring for the research.

With Cyprian Fisiy and Peter Geschiere: Witchcraft, Law, and Modernity

Michael’s engagement with the complex themes of witchcraft, sorcery, and law in modern Cameroon was clear through his co-authorship with Cyprian Fisiy on “Sorcery and Law in Modern Cameroon”. This work positioned Michael within the vital scholarly discourse on the intersection of occult beliefs and formal legal systems. Their collective work, including Cyprian’s collaborations with Peter Geschiere, consistently highlighted how witchcraft and sorcery are not merely “traditional” beliefs but are deeply interwoven with contemporary social, economic, and political transformations in Cameroon. Peter Geschiere’s seminal work, “The Modernity of Witchcraft,” articulated this powerfully, showing how contemporary ideas of witchcraft are dynamic responses to modern exigencies like new forms of wealth accumulation and shifts in political power.

With Henrietta Nyamnjoh: Identity, Belonging, and Mobility

It was a joy to see Michael extend his collaborative spirit to my wife, Henrietta Nyamnjoh, with whom he co-authored “Do you eat Achu here? Nurturing as a way of life in a Cameroon diaspora”. This paper thoughtfully shifted the analytical focus from the determinants of migration to the “life-cultivating practices that migrants associate with ‘home societies’ and wish to maintain in host societies”. Their work, focusing on how cultural elements like food, naming practices, and rituals help maintain connections and well-being among Grassfields Cameroonians in the diaspora, truly highlighted the active strategies migrants employ for cultural continuity.

Beyond Direct Co-authorship

Beyond direct co-authorships, Michael’s scholarship was deeply informed by the historical and anthropological contexts established by a distinguished cohort of scholars. The intellectual bedrock for Michael Rowlands’ scholarship was significantly laid by pioneering anthropologists such as Phyllis Kaberry, Edwin Ardener, and Sally Chilver. Kaberry, Chilver, and Ardener dedicated their early careers to “building the basis of future anthropological work in English Cameroon”, accumulating a “massive quantity of ethnographic data” often published in Nigerian Fields. This empirical depth and regional specificity established a crucial foundation for subsequent Africanist scholarship, serving as a “strong source of intellectual influence” for a “younger generation of anthropologists, including Michael Rowlands”. This connection signifies a direct intellectual lineage. Edwin Ardener, noted for his “considerable creative imagination,” continued to inspire new generations of scholars. This combination of rigorous empirical grounding and encouragement towards innovative theoretical approaches directly aligns with Rowlands’ interest in the “theorisation and conceptualisation of cultural heritage and material culture”.

Building upon the foundational ethnographic work, Rowlands’ mature scholarship was further informed by the contemporary analytical frameworks and critical perspectives offered by scholars like Richard Fardon, Martin Njeuma, and his student and subsequently colleague, Ian Fowler. These scholars provided specific conceptual tools that enriched Rowlands’ understanding of complex socio-political phenomena in Africa. Richard Fardon’s extensive scholarship on ethnicity and colonial legacies directly aligns with Rowlands’ interest in how colonial knowledge production profoundly shaped contemporary identities and the concept of “heritage”. Fardon’s work provided critical methodologies for deconstructing essentialised ethnic categories and understanding their historical construction within colonial power dynamics. Martin Njeuma’s foundational historical contributions to Cameroon studies provided crucial historical depth and indigenous perspectives on the region’s past. Given the strong ethnographic grounding established by earlier scholars in Cameroon, Njeuma’s work was essential for Rowlands’ analyses of national formation and the vital role of indigenous historical scholarship. Ian Fowler’s work on borderlands and identity offered a crucial lens for Rowlands’ analyses. This theme was vital for understanding fluid cultural boundaries, contested identities, and the spatial dimensions of heritage within nation-state formation, enabling Rowlands to explore how identities are shaped at the margins of political and cultural territories. This collective body of work underscores the enduring impact of colonial knowledge production on contemporary identities and the vital role of indigenous historical scholarship in shaping broader Africanist research. Rowlands’ engagement extended to the politics of knowledge production itself, analysing how heritage has been understood and potentially distorted by colonial and postcolonial academic discourses, thus contributing to the decolonisation of heritage studies.

Michael Rowlands’ scholarship stands as a sophisticated bridge, integrating the empirical depth provided by the earlier generation of anthropologists with the critical analytical frameworks offered by more contemporary scholars. This synthesis resulted in a nuanced understanding of material culture, decolonisation processes, and the intricate interplay between past and present in shaping contemporary identities across various global contexts. His research on “postcolonial museums” and “the role of cultural heritage in post-conflict Liberia” are particularly illustrative of this synthesis, connecting directly to themes of colonial legacies and the neoliberalisation of heritage. Rowlands’ explicit focus on “decolonisation, religion, and repair” reflects the critical perspectives he gained regarding colonial knowledge production and the vital role of indigenous historical scholarship. His work actively contributes to the decolonisation of heritage studies, advocating for approaches that acknowledge and redress historical imbalances.

A Lasting Legacy in African Studies

Michael Rowlands’s scholarship, marked by its interdisciplinary richness, consistently challenged static views of African societies, revealing how “tradition” and “modernity” are constantly negotiated and co-produced. His work, often in convivial conversation with others, illuminated the enduring legacy of colonialism while simultaneously highlighting the agency of African actors in shaping their realities. He also brought critical attention to mobility and transnationalism, showing how African experiences contribute to global debates on migration, identity, and belonging. His interdisciplinary methodology, seamlessly integrating insights from various fields, has become a benchmark for rigorous scholarship and a standard for complex cultural analysis. His work on “globalisation and cultural flows” remains highly relevant in an increasingly interconnected world, providing robust frameworks for understanding contemporary cultural dynamics and their impact on local practices and identities. His critical perspective on heritage is central to ongoing discussions around decolonisation, restitution, and the ethics of representation in museums and cultural institutions. This has influenced policy shifts towards greater recognition of indigenous rights, demands for cultural restitution, and enhanced community engagement in heritage decisions. His “anthropology of civilisations” provides a crucial counter-narrative to Eurocentric historical accounts, influencing global history and comparative studies by emphasising diverse pathways of societal development.

Michael’s intellectual curiosity and collaborative spirit have left an indelible mark on African Studies. He will be deeply missed, but his profound contributions will continue to inspire and guide generations of scholars.

*Prof Francis B Nyamnjoh can be reached via email at nyamnjoh@gmail.com