The Roots of Ethnic Conflict in Africa From Grievance to Violence

by Nasong'o, Wanjala S.

• ISBN13: 9781137554994
• ISBN10: 1137554991
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-10-21
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book examines the root causes of ethnic conflict in Africa. The main thesis of the book is that ethnic political mobilization results from deeply-felt grievances on the part of the group so mobilized. Such grievance revolve around political and socio-economic marginalization, including perceived skewed distribution of both material and symbolic resources. However, the recourse to violence stems from the nature of government's response to the mobilized - whether the government responds positively and thus seeks to redress the grievances of the mobilized group or whether the government responds negatively and seeks to suppress such groups, thereby radicalizing them. The book applies this model to five concrete cases and concludes with an exposition of possible strategies for managing identity conflicts.

Author Biography

Wanjala S. Nasong'o is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of International Studies, Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He has previously taught at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA, the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and Kenyatta University, Kenya. He is the author/editor of Contending Political Paradigms in Africa: Rationality and the Politics of Democratization in Kenya and Zambia; Kenya (2005); The Struggle for Democracy (2007); The African Search for Stable forms of Statehood (2008); The Human Rights Sector in Kenya: Key Issues and Challenges (2009); and Regime Change and Succession Politics in Africa (2013). In addition, Nasong'o is recipient of the 2012 Rhodes College's Clarence Day award for excellence in research and creative activity.

Table of Contents

1. From Grievance to Ethnic Mobilization: An Introduction; Wanjala S. Nasong'o
2. Explaining Ethnic Conflicts: Theoretical and Conceptual Perspectives; Wanjala S. Nasong'o
3. Deep-Seated Historical and Socio-Economic Grievances: The North-South Conflict in the Sudan; Wanjala S. Nasong'o
4. Conflict Trajectory in Northern Uganda: Its Development and Nature; Joseph O. Wasonga
5. Ambiguity of the Soil, Ambiguity of Belonging: Grievance, Resource Avarice, and Conflict in Eastern DRC; Stephen Mwachofi Singo and Sam Okoth Opondo
6. Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony: Colonial and Post-Colonial Roots of the Rwandan Genocide; Céline A. Jacquemin
7. In Search of a Political Identity: The Historical Basis of Understanding Zanzibar's Post-Colonial Dilemma; Martin S. Shanguhyia
8. The Myth of Language as a Unifying Factor: Conflict in Monolingual Rwanda and Somalia; Tom Onditi Luoch
9. Managing Ethnically Divided Societies: Conclusion; Wanjala S. Nasong'o