Ethnicity in africa pdf

Working paper series explaining african ethnic diversity lse. The primordialist approach is the oldest in sociological and anthropological literature. The literature on ethnicity and tribalism in africa is so voluminous that this essay cari only survey the most important lines of research and refer to some relevant casestudies. Ethnicity in subsaharan africa international affairs. The process by which people transfer their allegiance from ethnic to national identities is highly topical yet somewhat opaque. This has affected different people in different ways.

Ethnicity, human rights and constitutionalism in africa published by. Ethnicity in africa oxford research encyclopedia of. This paper is motivated by the apparent intractability of. Ethnic groups in africa 1 ethnic groups in africa ethnic groups in africa in 1996 ethnic groups in africa number in the hundreds, each generally having its own language or dialect of a language and culture. Colonial production, extraverted and coercive as it already was, was ruthlessly reorganized to produce record amounts of primary agricultural and mineral commodities for the imperial armies and economies. Kenya imported 128,000 tons of corn from south africa last year, while zambia and mozambique ordered 250,000 and 150,000 tons respectively. World religions 2003 denomination africa 000 % world 000 % africa world. Many ethnic groups and nations of subsaharan africa qualify, although some groups are of a size larger than a tribal society.

South africa intends to exploit this situation to the fullest. Tribalism in africa the complexity of ethnicity 4th semester spring 2009 hib 03. The challenges of ethnicity, multiparty democracy and state. Authors sharp and boonazier argue that ethnicity defined in the context of colonialism can be transformed, and that people have the ability to claim and reclaim ethnicity 405. D these days ethnicity is much talked issues in the contemporary world, especially in the third world, so called underdeveloped countries by developed western countries. Politicized ethnicity has been detrimental to national unity and socioeconomic well being. The kenyan section of the international commission of jurists p. Parties, ethnicity, and voting in african elections article pdf available in comparative politics 452. Violent and intractable internal conflicts in recent years in somalia, liberia, rwanda, burundi and sudan point to a failure of states in subsaharan africa to cope with ethnicity. Religion in subsaharan africa most observers agree that africans are generally much more religious than the europeans, perhaps even than americans both in the sense of believing in an invisible world and of actually practicing religion. What challenges does the resurgence of ethnic nationalism in some african countries pose for democratisation. I use evidence from subsaharan africa henceforth africa because, unlike most of the rest of the world, the relatively small average size of core ethnic groups means that there is sufficient variation in the degree to which they hold power. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Political instability in africa where the problem lies and.

Ethnicity and political pluralism in kenya shilaho westen kwatemba shilaho kwatemba is a phd candidate in the political studies department, university of the witwatersrand, johannesburg email. An individual can report as white, black or african american, asian, american indian and alaska native. Given the fact that not a11 groups within the new country are centralized states, rivahies and competition between ethnie groups will be lessened when incorporation first begins. Boston university openbu african studies center asc books 2002 ethnicity and politics in africa young, crawford boston university, african. Ethnic groups in africa number in the hundreds, each generally having its own language or dialect of a language and culture. Ethnicity in africa download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.

Ethnicity challenges in african communities, the ghost of. In section 2, i present a brief historical background on the ebola crisis in subsaharan africa and discuss the interplay between ethnic polarization and socioeconomic disparities, and their implications for. Ethnicity and nation building in contemporary africa. Areas covered range from political system types, political economies, and political cultures of diverse. Arusha conference,new frontiers of social policy december 1215, 2005 m. Ethnicity and politics african studies oxford bibliographies. Toward the millennium, journal of black studies, vol.

Table 3 shows the distribution of countries by area. Political instability in africa where the problem lies and alternative perspectives by antony otieno ongayo the african diaspora policy centre, amsterdam1 presented at the symposium 2008. Examine the regional geopolitical dynamics that have shaped are shaping the relationship between the various actors, i. It is the embodiment of values, institutions, and patterns of behavior, a composite whole. Pdf ethnicity and democracy in africa researchgate. Colourcoded are 15 major ethnolinguistic supergroups, as follows. Angola, ivory coast, malawi, mauritius, zaire, and zimbabwe are also reported to have purchased from south africa. An introduction to african politics, this course will provide for its participants a general survey of the main issues regarding politics in the continent. The author examines the association of ethnic identities with the colonial period and the instrumentalist contention that ethnicity was invented for political. A groups customs and traditions often come from religion, from where the group lives, or from the demands of daily life. First, i examine the social construction of african ethnicities since the imposition of european colonial rule, with particular focus on both the role of. Oct 17, 2009 colonialism as a cause of ethnic conflict in africa is also underscored by irobi 2005. Ethnicity and religion as sources of political division in.

The african ejournals project has digitized full text of. Ethnicity and religion as sources of political division in africa. Divisive ethnicity in the church in africa book, 2006. Murdock, africa, its peoples and their cultural history, 1959. Some scholars use the two concepts as though they carry the some meaning and strongly inseparable. The challenges of ethnicity, multiparty democracy and. A theoretical overview the following discussion is intended to provide this disquisition with a theoretical superstructure from which to explore and explain the ethnicity paradox in african politics. The study examined secondary data on ethnicity, politics, democratic transition. Evidence from subsaharan africa elliott green department of international development. Africa, theories that focus on qualities that are more common to african states than states from other regions e. The vast majority of political economy work on africa takes ethnicity as. Ethnicity, cultural diversity and poverty in south africa. The 1890 census, in turn, classified the population using terms such.

Most africans today are either muslim or christian, but. With the democratization wave sweeping africa around 1990, many analysts turned their attention to reconciling democracy and ethnicity. Pdf ethnicity and politics in africa shadrack adem academia. Among todays scholars there is a near consensus that precolonial african identities were relatively fluid, permeable, overlapping, and complex. Africa action rethinking the use of tribe in the african context can support a discourse on africa grounded in african realities that escapes the intellectual laziness of a term that has no coherent meaning. It uses the example of uganda as well as afrobarometer. Archaeological perspectives from iron age palestine coenraad l van w scheepers u nisa abstract ethnic and cultural intolerance is still alive and well in postapartheid south africa. The ethnic groups of africa number in the thousands, with each population generally having its own language or dialect of a language and culture. In earlier times, african ethnic groups were commonly labeled as tribes, a term that has mostly disappeared from. Ethnicity, governance and stability in east and central africa objectives. Census bureau considers race and ethnicity to be two separate and distinct concepts. Africa and elsewhere are driven by a rise in fundamentalism almond et al. Various institutional formulas were explored, such as federalism nigeria and ethiopia, or electoral systems reynolds 1999, cited under consociationalism and electoral systems.

Enslavement, religion and cultural brokerage in the construction of mandikajola and eweagotime identities in west africa, c. This is a draft working paper produced for the world bank conference, new frontiers of social policy. It has relatively little to do with europe, africa, asia, etc. Ethnicity, national identity and the state lse research online. One group that reclaimed their ethnic identity in south africa is the nama people. At best, my analyses are going to be brief but sufficient to provide the necessary.

Many kenyans thought, perhaps wrongly, that under democracy, there should be competitive politics, that parties. Many times the terms tribe and ethnicity are used as if they were the same though they are not. Truly, given the fact that ethnic cleavages are already deep and political discrimination against minority groups is widely practiced in africa, ethnicity cannot but be a great potential for separatist activities. Talking about tribe moving from stereotypes to analysis africa action. Click download or read online button to get ethnicity in africa book now. Studies have been conducted to investigate how ethnicity has affected people in africa, and different responses have been received. It is not clear that ethnicity by itself generates conflict or that it is inherently threatening. However, it is pertinent to note that there is a difference between ethnicity and tribalism even though the difference is watertight. Tribalism and ethnicity in africa 3 identity as a corporate unit or ethnie constituency among the ace phalous groups. Berman abstract the paradox of efforts over the past twenty years to reinvent democracy in africa has been that rather than dampening the fires of ethnic conflict, they have often made them more intense and in the past decade have been accompanied by the explosion of violent conflicts of autochthony. Ajayi, a nigerian scholar, tribe and tribalism were the predecessors of the concept of ethnicity and their conception began in the colonial state. The concept ethnicity and tribalism has always been a confused matter.

Kenya has experienced ethnic political violence around election periods. Africa is made up of 54 different countries and many ethnic groups. Before the colonial era, some parts of africa had what may be described as ethnic polities political societies with governmental institutions in a local space where. History has stripped africas people of the dignity of building their nations on their own indigenous values, institutions, and heritage. Ethnic consciousness is a product of contradictions embodied in political relations of structured inequality common in many african nations. Ethnicity and refugees in africa cultural survival.

The paradox of efforts over the past twenty years to reinvent democracy in africa has been that rather than dampening the fires of ethnic conflict, they have often made them more intense and in the past decade have been accompanied by the explosion of violent conflicts of autochthony. Ethnicity and racism can be considered as basic to several conflicts which are tearing up societies and the african continent. Ethnicity and poverty ote 231 2010, 161177 161 ethnicity, cultural diversity and poverty in south africa. The issue of ethnicity and democratization in africa. African ethnic inven tion emerged through internal struggles over moral economy and political legitimacy tied to the definition of ethnic communities moral. Therefore, if ethnicity is held to be a problem, one may well ask, problem for whom. A good example of this happened in nigerian biafra civil war in 1967.

The ethnolinguistic groups include various afroasiatic, khoisan, nigercongo and nilosaharan populations the official population count of the various ethnic groups in africa is highly uncertain, both due to limited infrastructure to. Truly, given the fact that ethnic cleavages are already deep and political discrimination against minority groups is widely practiced in africa, ethnicity cannot but be a. Differing for better application dental press j orthod 122 2010 mayjune. Both ethnic political movements and territorial nationalism in africa are of the same recent historical origins. Ethnicity is more than skin color or physical characteristics, more than language, song, and dance. The ethnic groups of africa number in the thousands, with each population. Pdf ethnicity and politics in africa shadrack adem. Class relations, although the central relations in south africa are not the only relations, there are social relations such as race and ethnic relations, for a social structure is a complex network of social relations both class relations. Personal identity as well as cultural identity ethnic identity always materialise in relation to somebody else.

A third perspective on the relative divisiveness of ethnicity and religion in africa. If the current state of scholarship on ethnicity and development is any guide, transformation 22 1993. Danjibo 2009, religious divisions may not be timeinvariant but may nevertheless constitute an enduring, generational feature of political identity. Ethnicity continues to reflect geographic area in spite of government attempt to downplay ethnicity. Can ethnicity be reconciled with the struggles for. African ethnic inven tion emerged through internal struggles over moral economy and political legitimacy tied to the definition of ethnic communitiesmoral. This is partly because of the tendency to view ethnic difference as a major cause or driver of civil wars or political instability in africa. The census bureau defines race as a persons selfidentification with one or more social groups. Ethnicity and multiparty politics in kenya by 1990 when kenyas movement towards democracy had intensified, the ruling party kanu decided to extract political mileage from ethnicity. This article argues that one of the key determinants of national identification is membership in a core ethnic group, or staatsvolk, and whether or not that group is in power. The study explored the nuanced relationship between ethnicity and political violence.

North africa was a crucial combat zone during both wars. Pdf parties, ethnicity, and voting in african elections. For example, nomadic bedouin tribe must have customs that can be practiced while traveling. Ethnicity challenges in african communities, the ghost of the. Inclusion of ethnicity in the 2000 round of censuses from the 147 countries or areas included in our analysis, 95 countries 65% asked one or more questions on ethnicity. Paradoxically, despite its contemporary currency, the word itself in current usage is recent, first appearing in the oxford english dictionary only in 1953. Ethnicity in africa oxford research encyclopedia of african. A perspective for nonkilling emmy irobi polish academy of sciences summary the wish of every country is to have a harmonious, killingfree society where peoples dreams for a prosperous future is realized, and goods of modernity properly distributed fairly. Ethnicity and ethnic conflict violence in twentieth century. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. It argues that ethnicity is something given, ascribed at birth, deriving from the. In this paper we argue that anyone concerned with truth and accuracy should avoid the term tribe in. Ethnicity is now universally regarded as a key element in the political process in african states.