Ethnicity and the long-term perspective

The debate about ethnicity in sub-Saharan Africa has come to an uneasy consensus in the 1990s, but it has to be asked if we are really close to a solution. How can comparative and historical views help to inform the debate? In this work, seven scholars bring in a long-term perspective to ethno-cultural solidarities, which they explore within a multi-disciplinary framework. This return to the 'heart of the ethnic group', twenty-five years after Elikia M'Bokolo's and Jean-Loup Amselle's path-breaking reinterpretation of ethnicity in Africa, argues for a reappraisal of approaches to ethnicity that have been adopted in recent decades. Focusing on two major geographical regions of the African continent Senegambia including Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, and the area of Southern Tanzania and the northern half of Mozambique , the chapters in this volume provide a new historical interpretation of the processes of identity-building in sub-Saharan Africa.

Autorentext

The Author: Alexander Keese is Assistant Professor and Marie-Curie Scholar at CEAUP, University of Porto, Portugal. He has published various articles on the Portuguese and French late colonial states in sub-Saharan Africa, and he is the author of the book «Living with Ambiguity: Integrating an African Elite in French and Portuguese Africa, 1930-61».

Zusammenfassung
«Understanding ethnic conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the role that ethnicity plays in the political and social life of Africa's peoples, requires comprehending the historical roots of ethnic identities and the forces that cause them to change and become mobilized. This volume brings together a collection of fascinating essays that contribute to this important agenda. Written by a set of distinguished Africanist scholars and drawing on material from across the continent, the chapters provide new insight into how ethnic identities, stereotypes and solidarities in Africa have emerged and metamorphosized over the past two centuries. Taken together, they offer a critical contribution to our understanding of the ways in which social identities evolve over the long-term. The book will be indispensible reading for those interested in understanding the historical forces that have shaped contemporary African ethnic identities.» (Daniel N. Posner, University of California, Los Angeles)
«'Ethnicity and the Long-term Perspective: The African Experience' is a work of remarkable quality. [...] [It] is to be recommended to all who would like to learn more about Africa from other sources than purely political points of view.» (Jaroslav Valkoun, Jahrbuch für Europäische Überseegeschichte 11, 2011)

Inhalt

Contents: Alexander Keese: Introduction - Eduardo Medeiros/José Capela: Processes of Identity-Building in the Zambesi Valley: Ethnic Solidarity and the Zambesian Ethos - Malyn Newitt: Kinship, Religion, Language and Political Control: Ethnic Identity among the Peoples of the Zambesi Valley - Felicitas Becker: Vernacular Ethnic Stereotypes: Their Persistence and Change in Southeast Tanzania, ca. 1890-2003 - Paul Nugent: The Historicity of Ethnicity: Mandinka/Jola and Ewe/Agotime Identities in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries - Philip J. Havik: Tchon I Renansa: Colonial Governance, Appointed Chiefs and Political Change in 'Portuguese Guinea' - Alexander Keese: Who's King Tom? Being a 'Temne', 'Mandinka' or 'Susu' between Identity, Solidarity and Ethnic Shifts in Early Nineteenth-Century Sierra Leone.