New Nationalism and Development in Africa

Abstract

About fifty years after the independence of most former colonies on the Af-rican continent, books on African nationalism again rank high on the agenda of the international academic discussion (cf. Amoah 2007; Chipkin 2007; Dorman, Hammett, and Nugent 2007; Mangu 2006; Nyamnjoh 2006; Simp-son 2008). A selection of three recent publications demonstrates the ad-vances made in scholarly analysis in the meantime as well as the wide range of related subjects. 1 The new nationalism in Africa and elsewhere shows re-markable differences both in its roots and its impact, compared with that of the national independence movements of the early 1960s. Contrary to the " first " nationalism, the " second " is less prone to include, tending rather to exclude populations; alienation, xenophobia and its political instrumentalisa-tion are its curse. The new nationalism has been shaped decisively by the consequences of globalisation and by the increasing cleavage between the poor and the rich. Nowadays, structures of nationalism and nation-states differ more than in the past. Frequently, the new nationalism is rooted in populist grass-root movements which do not necessarily share the same in-terest as the ruling class or the state. This makes for its extraordinary politi-cal and social ambiguity and brisance. The book by Ivor Chipkin with the provocative title " Do South Afri-cans Exist? " triggered a controversial debate even beyond academic circles. Meant as a contribution to political philosophy and critical historicised po-litical science in general, it links current debates on nationalism, nation-building, democratisation and failed states with the historical roots of these deliberations, taking the South African experience as an example. It analyses the history of African nationalist thought in South Africa against the broader context of Nationalism in Africa in general from a multi-disciplinary per-spective. Nation-building is perceived by Chipkin as the formation of a po-litical community and its struggle for freedom, justice and democracy with the ultimate end of conquering the commanding heights of state power as the political sovereign. Therefore, nation-building preceded state-building in the opinion of the author. It is understood that the " national question " is of extraordinary importance, notably for South Africa. The enduring legacy of the racial divide propagated by the Apartheid regime that certainly granted citizenship in a restricted legal juridical sense to most of its subjects, but not necessarily a sense of belonging, let alone equal belonging, to a common na-tion, is still to be felt. The backlash of this unjust and inhuman policy con-fronted with the vision of the Freedom Charter that " South Africa belongs to all who live in it " is the growing controversy on nationalism linked with 1 Thanks for valuable comments and suggestions go to Susann Baller and Martin Beck. The responsibility for any fallacies or inaccuracies in the paper remains, of course, with the author.