State Formation in Africa and Decolonization

State Formation in Africa

• States are political communities that have a defined territory and population, subject to one government
• States also have an administrative staff that has control over the legitimate use of violence
• States coordinate behavior, set standards, redistribute resources and provide welfare
• Decolonization was a protracted and often bloody process, particularly in Portuguese colonies and former settler colonies
• Anti-colonial movements gained momentum in the 1950s, fueled by the emergence of intellectual and political leaders
• The 1950s were a time of optimism, with several independence leaders advocating pan-Africanism
• Kwame Nkrumah, former prime minister of Ghana, was instrumental in the creation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963
• World War II significantly impacted decolonization by seeing Africans fighting and shattering the aura of colonial invincibility
• The emergence of new superpowers with no interest in colonial systems also contributed to the end of colonialism
• The Atlantic Charter (1941) and the United Nations' notion of "equal rights and self-determination of peoples" shifted international norms

Ethnicity in Africa

• Ethnic diversity is correlated with increased risk of conflict, inequality, slower growth, lower levels of public goods provision, identity-based politics, and weaker national identity
• Ethnicity is based on ascriptive characteristics, including ancestry, kinship, culture, language, and religion
• The salient axis of ethnicity varies across countries, including race in South Africa, language in Canada, and religion in Northern Ireland
• Ethnic identities commonly considered in political science include tribes, clans, castes, races, and religions
• Modernization theory suggests ethnicity will decline as industrialization and urbanization progress
• Marxist theory posits that ethnicity is "false consciousness" and modern society will be organized along class lines
• Both theories failed to account for the persistence of ethnicity in industrialized countries
• Primordialism/Essentialism argues that ethnicity is fixed and rooted in societies, with ethnic identities trumping other identities
• Instrumentalism posits that ethnicity is fluid and a strategic choice by individuals to achieve political or economic ends
• Constructivism asserts that ethnicity is fluid but slow-moving, shaped by political institutions

The Slave Trade

• Europeans traded coveted goods with African middlemen in return for slaves, rarely venturing into the interior
• The trans-Saharan, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean slave trade occurred from the early Islamic conquests to the 20th century
• 6-7 million slaves are estimated to have been shipped to India and the Middle East
• The Atlantic Slave Trade began in the early 16th century, driven by the need for labor in Portuguese mines and coffee plantations in South America
• An estimated 9-15 million Africans were shipped to the Americas by various European powers
• The demand for slave labor increased in the 1600s due to North American cotton and tobacco plantations
• By the mid-19th century, the trade ended and slavery was abolished in Britain in 1838
• Less than 10% of transatlantic slaves arrived in North America, the rest were sent to the Caribbean or Brazil
• The Atlantic Slave Trade disproportionately affected certain regions of Africa, with specific ethnic groups subjected to high transportation numbers
• The demand for slave labor was driven by European involvement in trade with Africa and the rise of plantation agriculture
• The expansion of sugar, cotton, and coffee plantations in the Americas fueled demand for slave labor
• The 18th-century peak in slave trade coincided with the industrial revolution and the mechanization of textiles in England