Making Nations, Creating Strangers: States and Citizenship in Africa (African Social Studies Series, 16)

This book explores the instrumental manipulation of citizenship and narrowing definitions of national-belonging which refract political struggles in Zimbabwe, Cote dIvoire, Cameroon, Somalia, Tanzania, and South Africa, where conflicts are legitimated through claims of exclusionary nationhood and redefinitions of citizenship. Who Belongs To The Nation? How Is Citizenship Defined? And Why Have Such Identities Become So Politically Explosive In Recent Years? This Book Explores The Instrumental Manipulation Of Citizenship And Narrowing Definitions Of National-belonging Which Refract Recent Political Struggles In Zimbabwe, Cotê D'ivore, Cameroon, Somalia, Tanzania And South Africa. Conflicts Which Have Arisen Over The Resources Of The Post-colonial State Are Increasingly Legitimated Through Recourse To Claims Of Nationhood And Citizenship. The Contributors Address The Historical Roots Of National And Ethnic Identities, The Material And Symbolic Resources Which Are Contested Within States, And The Relative Importance Of Elite Manipulation And Subaltern Agency. Pt. 1. Citizenship, Nation And Africa -- Pt. 2. Inclusion, Exclusion And Conflict -- Pt. 3. Land And Belonging -- Pt. 4. Nations Building Boundaries -- Pt. 5. Present, Past And Future Of Citizenship In Africa. Edited By Sara Dorman, Daniel Hammett, Paul Nugent. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Who belongs to the nation? How is citizenship defined? And why have such identities become so politically explosive in recent years? This book explores the instrumental manipulation of citizenship and narrowing definitions of national-belonging which refract recent political struggles in Zimbabwe, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Somalia, Tanzania, and South Africa. Conflicts which have arisen over the resources of the post-colonial state are increasingly legitimated through recourse to claims of nationhood and citizenship. The contributors address the historical roots of national and ethnic identities, the material and symbolic resources which are contested within states, and the relative importance of elite manipulation and subaltern agency.