Ethnic Politics and State Power in Africa


Book Description

This book models the trade-off that rulers of weak, ethnically-divided states face between coups and civil war. Drawing evidence from extensive field research in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo combined with statistical analysis of most African countries, it develops a framework to understand the causes of state failure.




Ethnicity & Democracy in Africa


Book Description

A useful collection for students as the interest in the politics of ethnicity continues.




Ethnicity and Nationalism in Africa


Book Description

Ethnicity and Nationalism in Africa features a series of 'constructivist' contributions by leading scholars in the field of ethnicity and nationalism, and explores the differences among those who have come to be known as 'constructivists'. The contributors reflect upon ongoing methodological debates in ethnography, historiography, and political theory. They demonstrate the diversity of concepts and methods within constructivism, and assess the political implications of the concepts themselves. The debate between them is inter-disciplinary, critical and innovative, and should be of value to anyone interested in the study of ethnicity and nationalism.




Slavery and African Ethnicities in the Americas


Book Description

Enslaved peoples were brought to the Americas from many places in Africa, but a large majority came from relatively few ethnic groups. Drawing on a wide range of materials in four languages as well as on her lifetime study of slave groups in the New World, Gwendolyn Midlo Hall explores the persistence of African ethnic identities among the enslaved over four hundred years of the Atlantic slave trade. Hall traces the linguistic, economic, and cultural ties shared by large numbers of enslaved Africans, showing that despite the fragmentation of the diaspora many ethnic groups retained enough cohesion to communicate and to transmit elements of their shared culture. Hall concludes that recognition of the survival and persistence of African ethnic identities can fundamentally reshape how people think about the emergence of identities among enslaved Africans and their descendants in the Americas, about the ways shared identity gave rise to resistance movements, and about the elements of common African ethnic traditions that influenced regional creole cultures throughout the Americas.




Managing Ethnic Conflict in Africa


Book Description

In this book, Donald Rothchild analyzes the successes and failures of attempts at conflict resolution in different African countries and offers comprehensive ideas for successful mediation. The book demonstrates how negotiation and mediation can promote conflict resolution, along with a political environment that fosters development.




The Origins of Ethnic Conflict in Africa


Book Description

From Darfur to the Rwandan genocide, journalists, policymakers, and scholars have blamed armed conflicts in Africa on ancient hatreds or competition for resources. Here, Tsega Etefa compares three such cases—the Darfur conflict between Arabs and non-Arabs, the Gumuz and Oromo clashes in Western Oromia, and the Oromo-Pokomo conflict in the Tana Delta—in order to offer a fuller picture of how ethnic violence in Africa begins. Diverse communities in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya alike have long histories of peacefully sharing resources, intermarrying, and resolving disputes. As he argues, ethnic conflicts are fundamentally political conflicts, driven by non-inclusive political systems, the monopolization of state resources, and the manipulation of ethnicity for political gain, coupled with the lack of democratic mechanisms for redressing grievances.




Ethnic Groups in Africa


Book Description

Ethnic or racial classifications often say more about culture and shared experience than about genetics or common ancestry. In Africa, a continent where up to 3,000 languages are spoken, ethnicity can be especially difficult to define. Unfortunately, perceived ethnic differences have all too often produced tragic results. This book analyzes the role of ethnicity in contemporary African politics and governance. It examines the corrosive legacy of the slave trade and European colonization, details some of the bloody conflicts that have erupted from ethnic frictions, and describes how divisions that appear to be ethnically based often have more to do with class and religion. The book also explores the possibility of a united Africa, able to harness its diversity rather than fight over its differences.




Political Parties in Africa


Book Description

This book examines the effects of ethnicity on party politics in ten African countries. Sebastian Elischer finds that five party types exist: the mono-ethnic, the ethnic alliance, the catch-all, the programmatic, and the personalistic party. He uses these party types to show that the African political landscape is considerably more diverse than conventionally assumed.




Ethnic Party Bans in Africa


Book Description

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the spread of democracy since the 1990s has been accompanied by the proliferation of bans on ethnic political parties. A majority of constitutions in the region explicitly prohibit political parties to organize on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, region and other socio-cultural attributes. More than a hundred political parties have been dissolved, suspended or denied registration on these grounds. This book documents the experience with ethnic party bans in Africa, traces its origins, examines its record, and answers the question whether ethnic party bans are an effective and legitimate instrument in the prevention of ethnic conflict. This book was published as a special issue of Democratization.




Ethnic Diversity in Eastern Africa


Book Description

A prologue to ethnic diversity in Eastern Africa /Kimani Njogu --Ethnic pluralism and national governance in Africa : a survey /Michael Chege --What do we share? : from the local to the global, and back again /Mineke Schipper --Production of ethnic identity in Kenya /Karega-Munene --Links between African proverbs and sayings and ethnic diversity /Joseph G. Healey --(Over)riding the rainbow : ethnic diversity and the Kenyan creative economy /Joy Mboya --Leveraging Africa's diversity for an improved image and branding /Mary W. Kimonye --Ethnic diversity, democratization, and nation-building in Ghana /Kenneth Agyemong Attafuah --Ethnic diversity in East Africa : the Tanzanian case and the role of Kiswahili language as a unifying factor /Huruma Luhovilo Sigalla --Critical reflections on the challenges and prospects of ethnic diversity management in democratization /Eric Aseka --Media and national identity : should national media be relegated to the backseat? /Nassanga Goretti Linda --Ethnic diversity background and issues : the case of Rwanda /James Vuningoma --The challenges of ethnicity, multiparty democracy and state building in multiethnic states in Africa : experiences from Kenya /Paul N. Mbatia, Kennedy Bikuri & Peter Nderitu --A political economy of land reform in Kenya : the limits and possibilities of resolving persistent ethnic conflicts /Nicholas O. Odoyo --Epilogue -- emerging issues in managing the challenges and opportunities of ethnic diversity in East Africa : is good governance the destiny? /Ngeta Kabiri.