Minorities And The State In Africa

This book explores the various facets of the relationship between minorities and the state across Africa. The motivation for this collection lies in the growing need to understand the often tenuous relationship between minorities and the state. Through this collection, the editors and contributors present thoughtful ways for understanding forms of hegemony imposed by dominant groups in relational, national, and regional experiences. The book offers alternative conceptual and theoretical approaches and alternative research strategies for dealing with minority/majority issues, as well as resource control in historical and contemporary perspectives. This interdisciplinary framework draws into dialogue critical theories in the humanities and social sciences and brings together the discourses of scholars, policy makers, and activists whose experiences have led them to face forms of hegemonic control within the state. The relevance of minorities in state structures, issues of identity, human rights, and race as broadly conceived concepts, would serve well in informing new theories in this era of globalization. This volume consists of a set of nested themes that present minorities issues as fluid, contested, and under continues transformation, especially when examined within the larger context of a globalized human right agenda. The collection focuses on minority issues in contemporary Africa from a historical perspective, but also links these issues to global movements (such as international human rights) in an innovative manner. This book employs a cross-regional approach to explore specific issues in minority-state relations and human rights. This unprecedented approach holds the potential of serving as a foundation study for future research that seek to employ a comparative approach to specific issues in minority and human rights studies.

In this enlightening book, John Mukum Mbaku analyses the main challenges of constitutional design and the construction of governance institutions in Africa today. He argues that the central issues are: providing each country with a constitutional order that is capable of successfully managing sectarian conflict and enhancing peaceful coexistence; protecting the rights of citizens - including those of minorities; minimizing the monopolization of political space by the majority (to the detriment of minorities); and, effectively preventing government impunity. Mbaku offers a comprehensive analysis of various approaches to the management of diversity, and shows how these approaches can inform Africa's struggle to promote peace and good governance. He explores in depth the existence of dysfunctional and anachronistic laws and institutions inherited from the colonial state, and the process through which laws and institutions are formulated or constructed, adopted, and amended. A close look at the constitutional experiences of the American Republic provides important lessons for constitutional design and constitutionalism in Africa. Additionally, comparative politics and comparative constitutional law also provide important lessons for the management of diversity in African countries. Mbaku recommends state reconstruction through constitutional design as a way for each African country to provide itself with laws and institutions that reflect the realities of each country, including the necessary mechanisms and tools for the protection of the rights of minorities.From students and scholars to NGOs, lawyers and policymakers, this unique and judicious book is an essential tool for all those seeking to understand and improve governance and development in Africa.

Nationalism has generated violence, bloodshed, and genocide, as well as patriotic sentiments that encourage people to help fellow citizens and place public responsibilities above personal interests. This study explores the contradictory character of African nationalism as it unfolded over decades of Tanzanian history in conflicts over public policies concerning the rights of citizens, foreigners, and the nation's Asian racial minority. These policy debates reflected a history of racial oppression and foreign domination and were shaped by a quest for economic development, racial justice, and national self-reliance.

"The politics of identity and ethnicity are resurgent. Civil society, whose revival was much vaunted, was riven by communal tensions particularly of ethnicity and religion. The contributors address questions such as: Why is ethnicity a political problem? How is the problem manifested? Which institutional models offer ways of ameliorating the challenges that ethnicity poses to democratic nation-building?".--BOOKJACKET.