State, Politics and Nation-Building in the Early Post-colonial Period PDF

State, Politics and Nation-Building in the Early Post-colonial Period Prof. Richard Asante, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana Lecture Week 5, 2024 UGRC 222:Africa in the Contemporary World Objectives of Today’s Lecture Give an o...

State, Politics and Nation-Building in the Early Post-colonial Period Prof. Richard Asante, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana Lecture Week 5, 2024 UGRC 222:Africa in the Contemporary World Objectives of Today’s Lecture Give an overview of the goals of national politics and governance Explain the concept of nation building Examine the strategies for nation-building and socio-economic transformation Assess the challenges to nation building and social economic transformation Goals of National Politics and Governance Two major issues dominated National Politics and governance in the early Independence era: Nation-Building/National Unity Socio-economic Transformation  Nation-Building/National Unity Defined Nation-building refers to the process of constructing or structuring a national identity using the capabilities of the state. This process aims at uniting citizens within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable entities Construct overarching national identity instead of ethnic identity. As stated by Nkrumah. There will be no reference to Fantes, Ashantis, Ewes, Gas, Dagombas, strangers, and so forth, but that we should call ourselves Ghanaians Strategies Adopted Centralization of Power One-party Systems Social Citizenship Nationalism through creation of national paraphernalia, Political Ideologies, statements and slogan Centralization Concentration of power in the presidency Maximum use of executive authority/power Limited role of local governance  One-party Systems One party system is a type of party system in which only one political party forms the government and no other parties are allowed to operate in the country. As a nation-building strategy, one-party system was seen as device to prevent individualism, regionalism, ethnicity, and class related conflicts that may undermine development. One party system can be either de jure or de facto Social Citizenship Social citizenship denotes citizenship rights beyond formal legal and political equality. It encompasses social equality rights, a minimum level of economic security and social welfare provided by the state. Nationalist policy makers in Africa pursued social citizenship by providing healthcare, education, housing, and other social programs at a cost to the state. Social policy was viewed as a transformative tool for the purposes of mobilization and solidarity-building  Political Ideologies, Ideological Statements and Slogans Nation-building included the creation of national paraphernalia such as flags, anthems, national days, national stadiums, national airlines, national languages, and national myths. For example nationalist adopted various Political Ideologies, statements and slogan such as ‘ujumaa’, ‘One Zambia’, ‘one nation’, ‘national development’, ‘harambee’, ‘negritude’, and ‘communocracy’ Strategy for Economic Transformation Statism--promotes the view that the state has a major and legitimate role in directing the economy, either directly through state-owned enterprises or indirectly through economic planning. In Africa, some countries including Kenya and Ivory Coast promoted capitalist statism involving a mixture of market-friendly strategies and government intervention or public ownership over industry Ghana and Tanzania advocated socialist statism based on co- operative economic systems that rely upon state ownership Convergence Despite the differences, many of the African countries adopted the model of Import-Substitution Industrialization (ISI) This allowed African governments to nationalize or take control over domestic industries and protected them from foreign competition.  Challenges to Nation-Building Project High expectations for social services beyond what the capacity of the post- colonial state in Africa could provide. The nationalist leaders reverted to authoritarian rule Corruption Increased political repression and human rights abuses Opposition was not tolerated Multiparty democracy was perceived as detrimental to national cohesion Summary This lecture Gave an overview of the goals of national politics and governance Explained the concept of nation building Examined the strategies for nation building and socio-economic transformation Looked at the challenges of nation building and social economic transformation QUESTION Explain the following concepts one party state ‘ujumaa’ Sources & further readings Michael Kpessa; Daniel Béland; & André Lecours (2012), “Nationalism, development, and social policy: The politics of nation- building in sub-Saharan Africa” in Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies 34 (12): 115-2133. Paul Bohannan and Philip Curtin (1995). Africa & Africans. Fourth Edition. Illinois Waveland Press. Chapter 20