in human mobility as the norm in being human? How do ethnographers such as myself and my students (and some of you) decolonize the alienating tendencies that lead to the objectification of the people with whom we study by denying them the very essence of being – mobility?
Nyamnjoh’s analysis provides the framework for the subsequent chapters, arranged in two parts: The first (chapters 3–6) focuses on more ‘conventional’ strategies and responses to the aspirations of national identities, such as attempts at federalism, secession or accommodation within a unitary state. These case studies are drawn from across a geographical and political multiplicity of contexts including Nigeria, the Cameroons, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia. To maximize the comparative potential of this collection, the second part (chapters 7–10) then inverts this analytical logic to focus on new emerging articulations and ‘unconventional’ strategies within the same geopolitical space, namely the Republic of South Africa. Finally, a concluding chapter offers a number of metatheoretical and normative conclusions.
Eghosa Osaghae evaluates federalism as a strategy to deal with diversity in situations where identity and citizenship is constructed and deconstructed within and across state frontiers – frontiers which in many cases are imposed and artificially devised to create ‘nation-states’. He makes the case that federalism has been far more influential with regard to political developments than the literature suggests. By narrowing federalism to the operation of federal constitutions, the propensities, variety, experience and utility of federalism as a general approach are often disregarded. Osaghae argues that Africa needs more, not less, federalism if it is understood as a heuristic and pragmatic device for managing diversity and holding fragile states together. In contrast to other traditions of federalism, it is largely of a sociological nature in Africa, closely tied to the issues of territoriality, identity and the character of the elite. Especially in the post-independence era, it remains a sociological imperative in the incomplete state-building process where more inclusive, participatory and accountable governance is required and where the capacity of the state to cope with diversity is constantly tested.
Carlson Anyangwe discusses the options of incorporation, secession and independent nationhood as a different set of strategies to deal with the tensions between cultural diversity, inclusion and exclusion, and the legacy of two colonial interventions in a specific region – that of the Southern Cameroons. He approaches identity – a topic that falls primarily within the disciplines of anthropology and sociology – from a legal perspective and focuses on the interface between identity and the law. The dispute between the Republic of Cameroon and the Southern Cameroons is not only territorial, but also an identity- and resource-based conflict. The chapter further investigates state formation and international law with particular reference to national identity. A final section deals with the distinct identity of the former United Nations trust territory of the British Southern Cameroons in its claim to, and epic struggle for, sovereign statehood.
Bahru Zewde pursues the topic of secession in a different setting. His entry point is the remarkable events in the Horn of Africa in 2018, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ushered in a new era by ending the long stalemate of ‘no war no peace’ between Eritrea and Ethiopia. His analysis makes clear that mobility is already operative on the most basic level of identity formation and that this has consequences on the higher level of state formation. Identity itself is a site of mobility and fluidity, demonstrating its mediating potential. Yet this bridging capacity is seldom utilized. Zewde therefore maintains that the root of the problem is the accentuation of mono-identities by Ethiopia’s elites and the consequent failure to accommodate multiple identities. The reality on the ground is that both Ethiopia and Eritrea are composed of a mosaic of different nationalities and regions. The same ambiguity is visible at state level where Eritrea cherishes its hard-won independence but also wants to enjoy the maximum benefit from the interdependence with Ethiopia. The attitude of Eritrea towards Ethiopia is thus one of both attraction and repulsion. This ambivalent stance has its roots in Italian colonization and Eritrea’s hard-fought struggle for independence.
Samson Wassara provides a counter-example where the mobility of identity and national diversity do not result in convergence and nation-building, but in fragmentation. He traces the historical developments and social dynamics that led to the fragmentation of national identity in Sudan. While colonial powers played a role, external forces also contributed to the process. He argues that the impact of Arabism and Islam led to anxiety among non-Arab nationalities and to the construction of regional and ethnic identities as a measure of protection, leading eventually to the secession of South Sudan from Sudan. However, the identity of the South Sudanese was constructed on the weak foundation of geographical belonging and of resistance to a common enemy and oppressor. When South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, this common enemy left the scene and citizens reverted back to their tribal affiliations and former colonial regions, resulting in the current crisis of identity and state formation.
The second part of the book approaches this crisis from a different angle, focusing on South Africa. What may appear to be an overconcentration on one country is intended as an exploration of generic trends in more depth and detail in a specific region, illustrating the intricacies and often contradictory sub-currents, the practical outcomes and their conceptual and theoretical implications. Similar concentrated studies of other countries or regions would be as valuable. Although the local context, its history, circumstances and power relations might be totally different, the same global forces are at work and the same generic challenges have to be faced.
The four chapters on South Africa illustrate the emergence of novel state formations and alternative expressions of loyalty to the state. Some of these strategies exhibit a remarkable degree of inventiveness and ‘nimble-footedness’, making effective use of the resources provided by global networks. Despite their location in the same political space, these case studies illustrate a diversity of approaches and difference in logic which motivates the choices in each specific strategy or by specific social actors.
This section is introduced by an analysis of recent developments in ‘Afrikaner’ circles and, more specifically, of the Solidarity Movement in South Africa. Danelle van Zyl-Hermann returns to the core theoretical argument of the book that the emergence of the network society challenges existing concepts of the state as a stable, homogeneous or unambiguous presence exercising dominion over defined spaces with clear physical, relational and ideological boundaries. She then describes how in post-apartheid South Africa, identity politics is being mobilized in an effort to establish an ‘alternative state’ for the white, Afrikaans-speaking minority. Van Zyl-Hermann traces the history of Afrikaner state formation since the nineteenth century, demonstrating the various permutations such efforts have taken over time. The Solidarity Movement is taking advantage of the opportunities afforded within the post-apartheid context of Afrikaner political disempowerment and the rise of global white nationalist and anti-multiculturalist discourses to mobilize on the basis of resistant Afrikaner nationalist identity. In contrast to secessionist or nationalist identity politics elsewhere in the world, these initiatives emanate from the sphere of civil society and do not represent aspirations for formal political or territorial autonomy. Rather, the Solidarity Movement’s plans for Afrikaner minority autonomy revolve around creating institutional, community-based and even virtual spaces for Afrikaner and white self-determination. These provide evidence of new strategies of state formation in the network society and of the unexpected forms these may take.
In the same post-apartheid context, Marizanne and Albert Grundlingh describe a very different manifestation of the relationship between local identity, the state and broader global realities. They present the curious case of a group of South Africans who are avid supporters of the New Zealand rugby team (the ‘All Blacks’). This represents a subterranean current which surfaces only occasionally in the media, but which is no less real in the lives of many ordinary rugby fans. This is an attitude which
