National Identity and State Formation in Africa

Manuel Castells is Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley. He is one of the most widely-cited and influential social scientists in the world today and he has taught at universities in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Bolivia.Bernard Lategan is Founder and former Director of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study in South Africa.

• Table of contents:PrefaceList of ContributorsList of AcronymsChapter 1: Introduction: Identity, Networks and State Formation in AfricaManuel Castells and Bernard LateganChapter 2: Mobility, Globalisation and the Policing of Citizenship and Belonging in the 21st CenturyFrancis B. NyamnjohChapter 3: Federalism in AfricaEghosa E. OsaghaeChapter 4: National Identity and State Formation: The Case of the Former UN Trust Territory of the British Southern CameroonsCarlson AnyangweChapter 5: The Secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia: A Historical ProfileBahru ZewdeChapter 6: National Identity of Sudan and the Emergence of South SudanSamson S. WassaraChapter 7: A New Kind of State for the Nation? Civil Society Mobilisation and White Minority Identity Politics in Post-apartheid South AfricaDanelle van Zyl-HermannChapter 8:  Reimagining the Sporting Nation: Negotiating Identity and Globalisation Amongst ‘Coloured’ Supporters of the New Zealand Rugby Team Marizanne and Albert GrundlinghChapter 9:  The Persistence of Ethnic Identities in KwaZulu-NatalJabulani SitholeChapter 10:     Identity-based Conflict in KwaZulu-Natal: Current State and Future Prospects Mary de HaasChapter 11:  Rethinking Mobility, States, Borders and Identity: Some Concluding RemarksBernard LateganReferences

“Few topics in the study of Africa resonate with as much importance as national identity, state formation, and the relation between them. In this original volume, an impressive palette of top scholars engages these issues from different angles and across multiple cases. The result is eye-opening with studies of citizenship, federalism, secessionism and accommodation across the continent contrasted with South Africa’s less conventional approaches to identity politics. Altogether, a path-breaking book.”Pierre Englebert, Pomona College & Atlantic Council“This ground-breaking study makes a major contribution to the ongoing debates on the complex interplay between globalisation, identity, and state formation. It provides not only invaluable new insights on the issue, particularly in theoretical and conceptual terms, but also rich empirical illustrations. Its case-studies actually are fascinating accounts of the diverse African experience and, above all, illuminate the conventional and unconventional strategies and responses to the aspiration of national identity.”Piet Konings, Honorary Fellow, African Studies Centre, University of Leiden, The Netherlands