Defenders of Ethnicity and their Arguments
Attempts at Dispelling the Myths about Tribalism in Africa
Sep 10, 2009
Despite its devastating effects on the political and socio-economic landscape of Africa, the concept of “ethnicity” still counts many supporters. These advocates of tribalism base their argument on the common logic of a “double-sided” coin. This logic presupposes that despite its ravages, ethnicity still has its good sides which can be exploited for the benefit of Africans.
Denying the link between Ethnicity and African Conflicts
Though defenders of "ethnicity" agree on its role in African conflicts, they deny the emphasis placed on "ethnicity" in explaining Africa’s woes, especially conflicts. Sam G. Amoo, one of these theorists, insists that considering ethnicity ipso facto as the cause of conflicts in Africa may be an invalid conception of the problem. According to Amoo, this approach only helps to give rise to ineffective policies in handling the problem.
Like Amoo, Alex Thomson forcefully challenges the common thesis that ethnicity is the principal cause of conflict in Africa. According to Thomson, “ethnicity may often be the agent of political mobilization but it is rarely the primary cause of conflicts.” Thomson goes further to deny the role of ethnicity in the Rwandan genocide.
Writing on the Rwandan genocide, Gerald Prunier plays down the role of ethnicity in the bloodshed that erupted in Rwanda, seeing it more as a force of history. “What we have seen in Rwanda,” insists Prunier, “is a historical product, not a biological fatality or spontaneous bestial outburst.” To Prunier therefore, “Tutsis and Hutus have not been created by God … to disembowel each other.”
On his part, Philip Cursin considers the apartheid government of South Africa as a good example in handling "tribal" and "ethnic" problems. Cursin hails South Africa’s racist government for being able to diffuse "ethnic" tensions by creating “home lands” for different "tribes" in an effort to reinforce "ethnic" feelings and hence reduce the possibility of united action.
A Critique of the pro-Ethnicity Stance
As "ethnic" conflicts continue to ravage Africa, its supporters also increasingly take blows. It is highly unconvincing for example, to downplay the role of ethnicity in African conflicts. For Amoo, Thomson and Prunier to undermine the role of "ethnicity" in the Rwandan genocide is tantamount to arguing against an established fact. Antoine Lema states emphatically that “intra-ethnic tensions played a major role in the Rwandan tragedy.”
Again, Thomson and Prunier lack a starting point for their argument because neither has provided a more convincing cause not only for the Rwandan genocide but for all other ethnic-motivated pogroms in Africa. For Prunier to blame the Rwandan genocide simply on “history” is highly insufficient. Peter Uvin challenges this line of thinking by insisting very firmly that the struggle for domination and power by the Hutus and Tutsis was the main cause of the Rwandan genocide.
The global condemnation, isolation and eventual rejection of the racist regime in South Africa leaves Cursin without a standpoint. To use apartheid South Africa as material for any debate about "ethnicity" is simply the wrong precedence. The pogroms and holocausts that surround apartheid are simply too frightful to be recalled. Excuses to justify ethnicity or tribalism should be found elsewhere not in South Africa.
See also: African Conflicts, The Role of Ethnicity.
Colonialism and Ethnicity in Africa.
Sources:
Middleton, John (ed). Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara Vol. 1. 1997.
Nnoli, Okwudiba. Ethnicity and Democracy in Africa, Intervening Variables. 1994.
Prunier, Gerald. The Rwandan Crisis: History of Genocide. 1995.
Southhall, Aiden. “The Illusion of Tribe.” Journal of Asian and African Studies Vol. 5, No. 1 (2000).
Thomson, Alex. An Introduction to African Politics, 2000.
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