Ethnicity and the Colonial and Post-Colonial State in Africa

Abstract

The chapter by Crawford Young focuses on the spread to Africa of the European nation-state form and its consequences for both "cultural identities, and patterns of communal conflict." Although there were significant variations in the ideological underpinnings, administrative practices, degree of penetration, and the extent of influence over it by a white settler class, the European nation-state form was imposed or accepted everywhere in Africa, despite the absence of "nations" corresponding to the boundaries of the states so imposed. Young points to three general consequences for "cultural self-definitions" of the various policies pursued by the European imperial states. One was the tendency, so characteristic of the modern state, to count and classify the peoples within its boundaries, fitting them into "discrete, bounded groups" where before, as Southall has noted, there were often only "interlocking, overlapping, multiple identities." The state authorities and Christian missionaries also sometimes created entirely new categories, some of which ultimately took hold in the form of new identities, others of which did not. The European colonial state also tended to make differentiations among various categories of people, favoring some groups and ignoring others. In the postcolonial era, the new elites who led the nationalist movements and took control of their states after independence sought to create nations to conform to the boundaries of the new states, adopting the slogan of "national integration." That slogan, however, flew in the face of the existing cultural diversities and the classifications and differentiations added to them by the colonial powers, who often also attempted to manipulate ethnic differences in their struggles against the nationalist forces. Consequently, after independence, ethnic movements, parties, and leaders arose to take advantage of the greatly increased opportunities made available by the expansion of state activities that increased "the stakes of cultural competition." Yet, Young notes that the threats to the nation-state form have been less widespread than might have been expected and that it remains the virtually universal form throughout 58Africa. Young's paper supports three themes noted in the introductory chapter. First, it supports the idea that it is often a mistake to think of cultural categories in multiethnic societies as "givens." Second, his analysis indicates clearly the differentiating role of the modern state. Third, his analysis also clearly indicates the change in the nature of ethnic relations that occurs when the state's activities increase. In the early stages of colonial rule, the main issues are local control and the search by the authorities for favored collaborators. In the later stages and in the post-independence period, issues of differential access by ethnic groups to new economic opportunities made available by an expanding state become increasingly prominent.