Challenges to the nation-state in Africa

Abstract

The challenges facing the nation-state in contemporary Africa are increasingly attracting the attention of scholars interested to understand how the decomposition and recomposition of popular political identities on the continent are affecting the post-colonial unitary project. The studies presented in this volume show that the challenges to the post-colonial nation-state project in Africa have mainly taken ethno-regionalist, religious and separatist forms. These challenges have been shaped by the long drawn-out economic crisis, zero-sum, market-led structural adjustment, and the legacy of decades of political authoritarianism and exclusion that dates from the colonial period. The contributors to this book present different suggestions to promote national unity and a supporting civic identity in Africa.

<p>CONTENTS: 1. The Crisis of the Post-Colonial Nation-State Project in Africa / Liisa Laakso and Adebayo O. Olukoshi -- 2. Changing Notions of the Nation-State and the African Experience: Montesquieu Revisited / Liisa Laakso -- 3. The Weakness of “Strong States”. The Case of Niger Republic / Jibrin Ibrahim -- 4. The Deepening Crisis of Nigerian Federalism and the Future of the Nation-State / Adebayo O. Olukoshi and Osita Agbu -- 5. Ghana: Violent Ethno-Political Conflicts and the Democratic Challenge / E.O. Akwetey -- 6. The Nation-State Project and Conflict in Zimbabwe / Lloyd M. Sachikonye -- 7. The National Question in Zaire: Challenges to the Nation-State Project / Ernest Wamb-dia-Wamba -- 8. Christianity and Islam Contending for the Throne on the Tanzanian Mainland / Nestor N. Luanda -- 9. Resuscitating the Majimbo Project: The Politics of Deconstructing the Unitary State in Kenya / Mutahi Ngunyi</p>