Identity, Ethnic Conflict and Communal Conflict in Sub- Saharan Africa

Authors

  • Robert Kłosowicz Jagiellonian University in Kraków

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.17.2020.68.09

Keywords:

ethnic identity, ethnic group, ethnic conflict, communal conflict, identity problems, Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Ethnic identity is one of the most significant types of identities. Meanwhile, some researchers have recently begun to criticise the term ‘identity’ as being too excessively associated with political ideologies, lacking operational power and being difficult to define precisely. Simultaneously, attention has been drawn to what can be referred to as ‘ethnic revival.’ Ethnic identity is created based on the opposition between what is ‘one’s own’ and what is ‘foreign.’. Even though the category of ‘the Other’ or the ‘foreign’ always appears in the context of identity, it has a special significance in the case of ethnic identity. By such means, the belonging to a particular ethnic group is emphasized, while simultaneously one is cut off from other groups. Conflicts between clans, tribes and ethnic groups have occurred throughout the ages and in all civilisations. There is no single opinion among researchers about how ethnic conflict should be defined. Increasingly, in recent literature of the subject, the distinction between ethnic conflicts and communal conflicts has come to be applied. The article aims to analyse the identity problems expressed in ethnic and communal conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is based on the critically reviewed literature of the subject, as well as the author’s conclusions from many years of research on the problem of state dysfunctionality, conducted in Sub-Saharan African countries.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

PlumX Metrics of this article

Author Biography

Robert Kłosowicz, Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Historian of international relations, Africanist, professor in the Institute of Political Science and International Relations at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Director of the Jagiellonian Research Center for African Studies, Vice-chairman of the Polish Africanist Society, His research interests include relations between diplomacy and the armed forces, the issues of international security and military conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa; dysfunctional states and de facto states. He has conducted fieldwork in over twenty African countries.

References

Babiński G., “Etniczność”, in Encyklopedia Socjologiczna, vol. 1 (1998), Warszawa.
Google Scholar

“Background Note: Central African Republic”, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of African Affairs, 18 January 2010, at <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4007.htm>.
Google Scholar

Banton M., Igwara O. (ed.), Ethnic Hatred: Genocide in Rwanda, London 1995.
Google Scholar

Bar J., Po ludobójstwie. Państwo i społeczeństwo w Rwandzie 1994–2012, Kraków 2013.
Google Scholar

Bar J., Rwanda, Warszawa 2013.
Google Scholar

Berdal M.R., “Disarmament and Demobilisation After Civil Wars. Arms, Soldiers and the Termination of Armed Conflicts”, Adelphi Paper, no. 303 (1996).
Google Scholar

Bieńkowska-Ptasznik M., “Tożsamość etniczna jednostki w kontekście pogranicza”, in J. Nikitorowicz, D. Misiejuk, M. Sobecki (eds.), Etniczność i obywatelskość w Nowej Europie. Konteksty edukacji międzykulturowej, Białystok 2007.
Google Scholar

Blanton R., Mason T.D., Athow B., “Colonial Style and Postcolonial Ethnic Conflict in Africa”, Journal of Peace Research, vol. 38, no. 4 (2001), https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343301038004005.
Google Scholar

Brosche J., Elfversson E., “Communal conflict, civil war, and the state. Complexities, connections, and the case of Sudan”, American Journal of Case Reports, no. 1 (2012), at <https://www.accord.org.za/ajcr-issues/communal-conflict-civil-war-and-the-state/>.
Google Scholar

Collier P., The Bottom Billion. Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, Oxford 2008.
Google Scholar

Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, at <https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/et/et007en.pdf>.
Google Scholar

Czerep J., “Etiopia – napięcia etniczne zagrożeniem dla państwa”, Biuletyn PISM, vol. 1866, no. 118 (2019), at <https://www.pism.pl/publikacje/Etiopia__napiecia_etniczne_zagrozeniem_dla_panstwa>.
Google Scholar

Fox J., “The Influence of Religious Legitimacy on Grievance Formation by Ethno-Religious Minorities”, Journal of Peace Research, vol. 33, no. 3 (1999), https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343399036003003.
Google Scholar

Gurr T., Harff B., Ethnic Conflict in World Politics, Boulder 1994.
Google Scholar

Hatzfeld J., Englebert z rwandyjskich wzgórz, Wołowiec 2015.
Google Scholar

Hironaka A., Neverending Wars. The International Community, Week States, and the Perpetuation of Civil War, Cambridge–London 2005, https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674038660.
Google Scholar

Holy L., “Kulturowe tworzenie tożsamości etnicznej”, in Z. Mach, A. K. Paluch (eds.), “Sytuacja mniejszościowa i tożsamość”, Zeszyty Naukowe UJ MXXIX.
Google Scholar

Huntington S.P., Zderzenie cywilizacji i nowy kształt ładu światowego, transl. by H. Jankowska, Warszawa 2008.
Google Scholar

Jagielski W., Nocni wędrowcy, Warszawa 2009.
Google Scholar

Kaldor M., New and Old Wars. Organized Violence in a Global Era, Cambridge 2008.
Google Scholar

Kapuściński R., Heban, Warszawa 2008.
Google Scholar

Keen D., Complex Emergencies, Cambridge 2008.
Google Scholar

Kłosowicz R., “Central African Republic: Portrait of a Collapsed State after the Last Rebellion”, Politeja. The Journal of the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the Jagiellonian University, vol. 42, no. 3 (2016), https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.13.2016.42.04.
Google Scholar

Kłosowicz R., Konteksty dysfunkcyjności państw Afryki Subsaharyjskiej, Kraków 2017.
Google Scholar

Kłosowicz R., Mormul J., Erytrea i jej wpływ na sytuację polityczną w Rogu Afryki, Kraków 2018.
Google Scholar

Kłosowicz R., “Państwa dysfunkcyjne w Afryce Subsaharyjskiej”, in R. Kłosowicz (ed.), Państwa dysfunkcyjne i międzynarodowe wysiłki zmierzające do ich naprawy, Kraków 2014.
Google Scholar

Kłosowicz R., “The Problem of Bad Governance as a Determinant of State Dysfunctionality in Sub-Saharan Africa”, Politeja. The Journal of the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the Jagiellonian University, vol. 65, no. 5 (2018).
Google Scholar

Kopiński D., “O wpływie wieloetniczności na rozwój gospodarczy w Afryce Subsaharyjskiej”, Afryka. Biuletyn Polskiego Towarzystwa Afrykanistycznego, no. 27 (2008).
Google Scholar

Krzyżanowska-Skowronek I., “Ujęcie dobra i zła w realistycznej koncepcji stosunków międzynarodowych”, Etyka i Dobro, Kraków 2015.
Google Scholar

Lake D.A., Rothchild D.S. (eds.), The International Spread of Ethnic Conflict: Fear, Diffusion, and Escalation, Princeton 1998, https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691219752.
Google Scholar

Loomba A., Kolonializm/ postkolonializm, Poznań 2011.
Google Scholar

Łoś R., “Konflikt w Sudanie i wojna z Czadem“, in R. Łoś, J. Reginia-Zacharski (eds.), Współczesne konflikty zbrojne, Warszawa 2010.
Google Scholar

Makoye K., “Tanzania Struggles to End Clashes Between Farmers and Herders”, Inter Press Service, 16 January 2014, at <http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/01/tanzania-finds-hard-stopfarmers-herders-fighting-resources/>.
Google Scholar

Mandela N., Long Walk to Freedom, Boston–New York–London 1994.
Google Scholar

Melvern L., Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community, London 2004.
Google Scholar

Mepham D., Ramsbotham A., Darfur: The Responsibility to Protect, London 2006.
Google Scholar

Mormul J., “Portuguese Colonial Legacy in Luso-African States: A Factor Leading to State dysfunctionality or Favorable to Development?”, Politeja. The Journal of the Faculty of International and Political Studies of the Jagiellonian University, vol. 56, no. 5 (2018).
Google Scholar

Niebuhr R., Moral Man and Immoral Society. A Study in Ethics and Politics, Westminster 2002.
Google Scholar

Popławski B., Sawczuk T., “Itsembabwoko oznacza genocyd. Sprawiedliwość transformacyjna i pamięć o ludobójstwie w Rwandzie”, Studia Socjologiczno-Polityczne, vol. 4, no. 2 (2015).
Google Scholar

Posner D.N., “Measuring Ethnic Fractionalisation in Africa”, American Journal of Political Science, vol. 48, no. 4 (2004), https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00105.x.
Google Scholar

Pretorius J., “‘Dubula ibhunu’ (shoot the boer): A psycho-political analysis of farm attacks in South Africa”, Psychology in Society, no. 47 (2014), at <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317450115_Dubula_ibhunu_shoot_the_boer_A_psycho-political_analysis_of_farm_attacks_in_South_Africa>.
Google Scholar

Rotschild J., Ethnopolitics: A Conceptual Framework, New York 1981, https://doi.org/10.7312/roth91044.
Google Scholar

Samatar A.I., “Ethiopian Federalism: Autonomy Versus Control in the Somali Region”, Third World Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 6 (2004), https://doi.org/10.1080/0143659042000256931.
Google Scholar

Seddon D., Sumberg J., Conflict between Farmers and Herders in Africa. Analysis, Department for International Development, at <http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/PDF/Outputs/R6618a.pdf>.
Google Scholar

Siollum M., “Cattle Rustling, the New Conflict”, New African, no. 562 (2016).
Google Scholar

Soeters J.L., Ethnic Conflict and Terrorism. The Origins and Dynamics of Civil Wars, London 2005, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203018408.
Google Scholar

Statistics South Africa, Statistical Release. Mid-year Population Estimates 2019, 31 July 2020, at <https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022019.pdf>.
Google Scholar

Sundaram A., Złe wieści. Ostatni niezależni dziennikarze w Rwandzie, Wołowiec 2016.
Google Scholar

The Crisis in Darfur, 16 June 2004, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, at <http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RS21862.pdf>.
Google Scholar

Trzciński K., “Co łączy i dzieli communal conflict oraz ‘konflikt etniczny’? Analiza znaczeniowa obu terminów i ich nigeryjska egzemplifikacja”, Afryka, no. 42 (2015).
Google Scholar

Trzciński K., Demokratyzacja w Afryce Subsaharyjskiej. Perspektywa zachodnioafrykańskiej myśli politycznej, Warszawa 2013.
Google Scholar

Trzciński K., “Koncepcja ‘metanarodu’ jako przyczynek do budowy trwałych państw w Afryce”, in D. Pietrzyk-Reeves, M. Kułakowska (eds.), Studia nad wielokulturowością, Kraków 2010.
Google Scholar

Trzciński K., Ograniczanie konfliktów w Nigerii i Indonezji. Hybrydowy model power-sharing, Warszawa 2019.
Google Scholar

Trzciński K., Wojny w Liberii i Sierra Leone (1989-2002), Warszawa 2002.
Google Scholar

Tweedie N., “Orania: the land where apartheid lives on”, The Telegraph, 13 December 2013, at <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nelson-mandela/10516129/Orania-theland-where-apartheid-lives-on.html>.
Google Scholar

UNICEF, U-Report Providing a Voice to Young Africans, 16 June 2016, at <https://www.unicef.org/innovation/stories/u-report-providing-voice-young-africans>.
Google Scholar

Versi A., “Cultivating the winning habit. An Audience with Paul Kagame”, New African, February/March 2020.
Google Scholar

Vorbrich R., “Etniczność a trybalizm w Afryce”, in J.J. Pawlik, M. Szupejko (eds.), Afryka na progu XXI wieku. Kultura i społeczeństwo, Warszawa 2009.
Google Scholar

Vorbrich R., Plemienna i postplemienna Afryka. Koncepcje i postaci wspólnoty w dawnej i współczesnej Afryce, Poznań 2012.
Google Scholar

Vorbrich R., “Wstęp”, in R. Vorbich (ed.), Plemię, państwo, demokracja. Uwarunkowania kultury politycznej w krajach pozaeuropejskich, Poznań 2007.
Google Scholar

Wierzbicki A., Etnopolityka w Azji Centralnej. Między wspólnotą etniczną a obywatelską, Warszawa 2008.
Google Scholar

Williams P.D., War and Conflict in Africa, Cambridge 2011.
Google Scholar

Wójtowicz B., Posthumus L., “Droga ku wielojęzyczności RPA”, Afryka, no. 44 (2016).
Google Scholar

“Youth chastise African leaders”, New African, no. 563 (2016).
Google Scholar

Zahorik J., “Ethiopian Federalism Revisited”, in P. Chabal, P. Skalnik (eds.), Africanists on Africa. Current Issues, Berlin 2010.
Google Scholar

Zawadzki P., “Czas i tożsamość. Paradoks odnowienia problemu tożsamości”, Kultura i Społeczeństwo 2003, no. 3.
Google Scholar

Zięba R. (ed.), Bezpieczeństwo międzynarodowe po zimnej wojnie, Warszawa 2008.
Google Scholar

Ziółkowski B., Konflikty zbrojne we współczesnej Afryce. Stan obecny na tle historycznym – zarys, Toruń 2003.
Google Scholar

Żukowski A., “Kształtowanie się systemu politycznego Nowej Południowej Afryki. Wybrane problemy”, in “Z problemów społeczno-politycznych współczesnej Afryki Subsaharyjskiej”, Forum Politologiczne, vol. 1 (2004).
Google Scholar

Żukowski A., “Pogranicza w Afryce Subsaharyjskiej. Regiony współpracy czy konfliktów?”, Forum Politologiczne, vol. 10 (2010).
Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2020-11-19

How to Cite

Kłosowicz, Robert. 2020. “Identity, Ethnic Conflict and Communal Conflict in Sub- Saharan Africa”. Politeja 17 (5(68):171-90. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.17.2020.68.09.

Issue

Section

NATIONAL IDENTITIES, REGIONAL IDENTITIES, ETHNIC IDENTITIES