Ethnicity in Africa: Towards a Positive Approach [Paperback]

Seyoum Hameso (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2001

This book explores one of Africas resilient realities. Looking critically into previous treatment of the subject, Seyoum Hameso argues that ethnic phenomenon in Africa is a wrongly attacked symptom of genuine concerns. The author notes that perverse Western media publicity and unfavorable academic treatment of ethnicity have rendered ethnicity as an alibi for various socio-political disorders in Africa. But they fall short of explaining why it is resilient. The salience of ethnicity ought to be seen in relation to Africas historical and political experience, which corresponded to despotic, often military, regimes all of which professed to avoid the divisiveness of ethnic diversity. Contrary to received notions, ethnicity can be channeled towards constructively positive ends and it can contribute to the betterment of life in the continent. The book gives useful insights into the history, politics, sociology and economic changes in Africa and it is particularly valuable source of information for anyone interested in Africas social and political formations.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Seyoum Hameso a writer of several books and articles on contemporary Africas ethnicity, cultures, languages, nationalism, development, state and globalisation. He is also and editor of a journal. He holds a BA in Economics from Addis Ababa University, MA in Development Economics from University of East Anglia and PG Dip. in Information Management from Thames Valley University where he also taught a course.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (April 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595181449
• ISBN-13: 978-0595181445
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,144,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A recommended reading, July 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Ethnicity in Africa: Towards a Positive Approach (Paperback)

Hameso's African bête noir is the system of colonial-imposed states that cross-cut natural units of ethnically homogeneous groups. Facing `statism' and the distribution of the social good, people had to resort to strategies of group interests that included `ethnic representation' as a general feature (P.11). He is certainly right when he complains that the `belittlement' of such strategies as `tribalism' show traits of `cultural imperialism' (p.5). From an anthropological perspective, many strategies in industrial societies to concentrate corporate capital could also be considered as `tribal' or `ethnic'.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ethnicity in Africa, May 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Ethnicity in Africa: Towards a Positive Approach (Paperback)

The author explores the contribution that ethnicity can make to democracy in Africa. In recent times, as a result of the contraction of state supported social services, ethnicity is being reinforced through self-help services such as schools, financial support to bereaved families etc. that ethnic associations provide. Given these, the author suggests that we see ethnicity positively and do not frame it as responsible for many of Africa's development problems.... The author gives ethnicity a dimension that has for too long been missing in African studies.

Dan-Bright Dzorgbo, Uppsala University, Sweden

4.0 out of 5 stars African Studies Quarterly, Volume 7, Issue 1, November 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Ethnicity in Africa: Towards a Positive Approach (Paperback)

African Studies Quarterly

http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v7/v7i1a12.htm

Ethnicity in Africa: Towards a Positive Approach

Despite its resilient reality, ethnicity and "tribalism" have not received adequate scholarly commentary in academic discourses. Nonetheless, Africa still remains a continent dotted with conflicts of various forms, often with ethnic overtones. The result has had a devastating impact on the political and socio-economic development of the continent. In the book under review, Hameso Seyoum attempts a systematic analysis of ethnicity in Africa since the pre-colonial period, arguing that in order to realise their development agendas African nation states must directly confront the issue of ethnicity, irrespective of its negative connotations. The author is very clear that Africa cannot afford to treat ethnicity as a side issue or wish it away, because it will continue to remain a factor that plagues the continent.

The book is divided into five chapters plus the conclusion. Chapter one provides a detailed overview of most of the issues raised in the book. Seyoum rightly argues that the immediate post-colonial African state made nation building incumbent upon erasing ethnicity and, as a result, real nations were superseded by non-nations and their histories, cultures and languages were regarded as tribal, backward, and therefore, irrelevant to development. The fact that nations were formed on the basis of ethnicity passed unheard. Developmentalists and political practitioners saw ethnicity as inimical to modern statehood and explosive to national unity. However, despite these attempts, ethnicity has remained apparent and substantially relevant. It even continues to exist beyond African "forests" and precisely in Europe and elsewhere. The author thus dismisses the modernisation and Marxian conceptions of ethnicity as inadequate and argues for the adoption of an African perspective that treats ethnicity as a form of African identity. To prove his case, Seyoum provides nine case studies (Nigeria, Zaire, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi) and demonstrates that these countries have suffered decades of misrule and conflicts due to an inadequate understanding of ethnicity and the management of ethnic relations.

In Chapter Five, which is the most critical aspect of the book, the author examines the positive aspects of ethnicity. He observes that properly guided, politicised ethnicity can serve various objectives, such as mobilising resources to do away with oppressive rule and assisting in economic development. In countries like Ethiopia, Liberia, and Somalia, ethnicity has proved a potent weapon for sorting out the vagaries of personal rule although not without lamentable repercussions. According to the author postcolonial African states must cautiously respond to ethnic demands by equitably distributing national resources in order to ensure economic and social justice. He warns that states which tend to ignore or fail to accommodate ethnic claims are almost certainly doomed to political instability and perhaps collapse.

This book makes a substantial contribution to the positive understanding of ethnicity. However, it has minimal but glaring setbacks resulting from too brief of an analysis of several critical issues. For example, the section on the African perspective to understanding ethnicity is too brief to be clearly understood and rather one may wonder what exactly the author meant when likening ethnicity to African identity at a time when the whole concept of "African Identity" is being re-examined. The same applies to the external environment of ethnicity. One may ask to what extent structural adjustment programmes have exacerbated the salience and resilience of ethnicity in Africa? The case studies are too brief, particularly the case of Sudan. These are some of the weakest aspects of an otherwise excellent book. Despite these weaknesses, the book does justice to any reader with an interest on the topic of ethnicity in Africa. It measures up favourably with the vast literature emerging on the subject.

Samwel Ong'wen Okuro
Maseno University, Kenya