Accidental nation-building in Africa

Abstract

National identity in Africa is routinely viewed as underdeveloped relative to ethnic identity because most states did not follow classic forms of nation-building, such as mass schooling with nationalist content. Yet recent survey data show that national identity across the continent is more robust than most scholars predicted. What is driving national identification in Africa? What unifies Africans around common national identity? Existing theories are not well suited to explaining this question, because factors that they see as essential, such as higher levels of development and cultural cohesion, often do not exist. In this article, I suggest a new understanding of the strength of national identity, based on the impact of political events, such as peace, political stability and conduct of elections. Drawing on over 200 original interviews with Ghanaian respondents, I demonstrate how political stability in Ghana, contrasted with political turmoil in neighbouring countries, produces narratives about national identity.