The Argument

We have become so used to the rhetoric of the “global village” that talking about African nationalism sounds anachronistic and outdated. But that is exactly what I wish to address. In this paper, I will explore the “National Question” in Africa and its erstwhile expression, nationalism, in three sections. First, I will discuss the rise of post-Second World War nationalism and its true essence, if you like. Then, I will address the debunking of nationalism in the post-cold war period under the apparent hegemony of neo-liberalism and so-called globalisation. Finally, still holding high the Gramscian adage, “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will,” I anticipate the insurrection of a second nationalism.

Post-War Nationalism
The Essence of Nationalism

Introducing his book Freedom and After, Tom Mboya remembers what he calls the “proudest day of my life.” That was December 6, 1958, the opening day of the All Africa Peoples Conference in Accra, Ghana. Earlier in the same year, there had been a conference of independent African states, of which only eight existed at the time. “These two conferences,” says Mboya, “marked the rediscovery of Africa by Africans.”

"This rediscovery of Africa by Africans was ‘in complete contrast to the discovery of Africa by Europeans in the nineteenth century.’ The Conference of Independent African States had marked the birth of the African personality, and the delegates had all agreed on the need for Africa to rise and be heard at all the councils of the world affairs. "

The conference was attended by some five hundred delegates from political parties, trade unions, and organisations involved in the great awakening that was African nationalism. Patrice Lumumba and Roberto Holden were there, so was Dr. Kamuzu Banda. The nationalist upsurge in the post-war period in Africa was a great moment for a people that had been denied humanity by centuries of slavery and colonialism. Ideologies centered on Kwame Nkrumah’s “African Personality” or Leopold Senghor’s “Negritude” or Kenneth Kaunda’s “Humanism” or even Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s Ujamaa expressed one central theme, nationalism.

The quintessence of nationalism was, and is, anti-imperialism. It was a demand and struggle against, rather than for, something. It was an expression of a struggle against denial – denial of humanity, denial of respect and dignity, denial of the Africanness of the African. It was the struggle for the “re-Africanisation of minds” or to “rebecome Africans,” as Amilcar Cabral put it. Archie Mafeje sums up the period well:

"It was the historical experience of racial humiliation, economic exploitation, political oppression, and cultural domination under European and American slavery, colonialism, and imperialism that gave rise to theories of ‘African personality’ and ‘Negritude.’ At the centre of these theories was the question of the liberation of the Black man – his identity or the meaning of ‘being-Black-in-the-world.’ It was a philosophical or moral justification for action, for a rebellion which gave rise to African nationalism and to independence. The latter was the greatest political achievement by Africans. It was an unprecedented collective fulfillment."

Early African nationalism should not be confused with the traditional discourse on the expression and development of nations in the womb of capitalism in nineteenth century Europe. Rather, it was an expression of a people that was an antidote to White supremacist rule. In a sense, it is correct to say that nationalism was the process, a process of struggle, in the formation of nations. In that sense, perhaps, nationalism preceded nations. Militant nationalists grasped this to some extent although they did not express it as consistently nor did they wholly appreciate the defining characteristic of nationalism, that is, anti-imperialism. In explaining the objectives of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) to the UN Trusteeship Council in 1955, Nyerere said:

"Another objective of the Union is to build up a national consciousness among the African peoples in Tanganyika. It has been said – and this is quite right – that Tanganyika is tribal, and we realise that we need to break up this tribal consciousness among the people and to build up a national consciousness. That is one of our main objectives towards self-government."

This formulation is no doubt problematic. It lends itself to the reactionary side of bourgeois nationalism, or what later came to be called “nation-building theories.” Let us look at another formulation; this time, from a leading member of a national liberation movement and an avowed Marxist – Marcelino dos Santos, then a leading member of FRELIMO. In an interview with Joe Slovo of the South African Communist Party, Dos Santos analyses the tension between tribe and nation:

"The main conditions for [the] successful rejection [of tribalism] are present. On the general point of whether we have already moulded a nation in the true sense of the word, I want to say that a nation is based on concrete realities. And the most important reality in the present stage in Mocambique is the fight against Portuguese colonialism…It is our common fight against our common oppressor, which plays an outstanding role in creating a national bond between all the diverse groups and cultures…Of course, a nation is a product of history and its formation goes through different phases. In this sense, the work for the final achievement of nationhood will continue even after independence, although the fundamental elements of nationhood are already in existence and in the process of being further developed in Mocambique. "

Dos Santos’ conception of nation formation does not differ fundamentally from Nyerere’s presentation of “nation-building,” although their points of departure appear different. Dos Santos, like Slovo, takes as his starting point the Marxist theory of nation (this, presumably, is “the true sense of the word”), which, in its Stalinist version, emphasises the European conception of a nation – common territory, language, culture, and economy. If these ingredients are not present, or not present to a sufficient degree, you have a tribe at worst or a nation in the process of being formed at best. Implied in the European conception of nation also is the idea of voluntarism, that is, forming or building a nation from the top. Perhaps the point to underline in Dos Santos’ exposition is that the anti-colonial struggle is an important ingredient of nationalism. The problem with Dos Santos- and Nyerere-type formulations is that the nationalist petty bourgeoisie, when it rose to power, wavered on anti-imperialism and ended up with top-down statist notions of “nation-building.”

I find Amilcar Cabral’s propositions more fruitful. They contain a germ of great potential in understanding the historicity and specificity of the National Question in Africa. Cabral suggests that post-war African nationalism was a struggle not only to reclaim history but also to assert the right of the African people to make history: “The foundation of national liberation lies in the inalienable right of every people to have their own history.”

Cabral also makes the point that “so long as imperialism is in existence, an independent African state must be a liberation movement in power, or it will not be independent.” These are profound insights. First, nationalism is constituted by the struggle of the people against imperialism, thus anti-imperialism defines African nationalism. Second, nationalism, as an expression of struggle, continues so long as imperialism exists. Third, the National Question in Africa, whose expression is nationalism, remains unresolved as long as there is imperialist domination.

Archie Mafeje builds on these insights, observing that “all the struggles in Africa and most of the Third World centre on the National Question.” He perceives nationalism as the common denominator underlying the different interpretations and connotations of the National Question. Furthermore, he says, nationalism is always a reaction against something. In African history, nationalism has been a reaction to imperialist domination. As proto-nationalism, the reaction was against the colonial phase of imperialism, or political domination by aliens. Since independence, meta-nationalism has been coping with the changing modalities of imperialist domination.

The dominant discourse on the National Question has run along different lines, however. In both the political right and left, the central debate has been over whether Africa has nations and nationalities or tribes and ethnic groups. In the Eurocentric worldview, nations represent a higher level in the evolution of social and political formations than tribes. Fed on Stalin’s rather schematic formula, and therefore unable to find nations within the territorial units called African countries, even radical Marxists, like Slovo, have found it difficult to theorise adequately about the National Question. In the hands of rightwing pundits, it has been worse. The so-called lack of nations has been used to debunk and delegitimise African nationalist movements and their achievements. With the current hegemony of neo-liberalism and the imperialist comeback, the spokespersons of imperialism have been quick to condemn nationalism as nothing more than an expression of ethnicity and tribalism.

Note this typical sample from an editorial in US News and World Report:

"In the Third World, there had been grand ideas of new states and social contracts among the communities, post-colonial dreams of what men and women could do on their own. There were exalted notions of Indian nationalism, Pan-Arabism, and the like. Ethnicity hid, draped in the colours of modern nationalism, hoping to keep the ancestors – and the troubles – at bay. But the delusions would not last. What was India? The India of its secular founders – or the ‘Hindu Raj’ of the militant fundamentalists? What exactly did the compact communities of Iraq – the Kurds, the Sunnis, and the Shia – have in common? The masks have fallen, the tribes have stepped to the fore."

This type of denigration strikes at the heart of nationalism, that is, at anti-imperialism. Be that as it may, let us look more closely at the various aspects and expressions of nationalism.

* This is an extract from a paper 'The Rise, The Fall and The Insurrection of Nationalism in Africa' by Issa G. Shivji, Professor of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam Tanzania. The paper is from Keynote Address to the CODESRIA East African Regional Conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 29-31, 2003. To read the full paper, please click on the URL below.

Faculty UK, an Association of Ghanaian faculty members in higher education in the UK, and members of other professions interested in education, is to be officially launched in London, on Saturday 20 March 2004. Faculty UK’s broad objective is to contribute towards providing global education for the Ghanaian. Its membership consists of lecturers and other staff in higher education institutions, as well as professionals with an interest in literary and other pursuits that border on education.

Black President is a multimedia exhibition that explores the influence and artistic legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the legendary Nigerian Afrobeat musician and activist who died in 1997. Thirty-four artists ranging from painters to rappers, who continue to be inspired by Fela's artistic genius and his dedication to justice and equality, will examine and respond to this cultural icon through approximately forty works of art. Black President is a multimedia exhibition that includes painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video, film, computer animation, music, and mixed media and sound installation. Black President was curated by Trevor Schoonmaker and organized by the New Museum of Contemporary Art.

The African Diaspora Initiative (ADI) is an internet gateway designed to locate and highlight Africans in the diaspora, in keeping with the NEPAD plan and G8 Africa Action Plan. ADI aims to help African leaders and business leaders to access profiles, find solutions and opportunities, and to highlight dynamic, experienced, qualified and highly motivated African resources in the diaspora.

“We suggest that the question of identity, though not so deeply explored in the newer facets of African diaspora scholarship, permeates much of the cultural life of the diaspora and should be at the centre of diaspora scholarship generally. Thus the theme of our proposed workshop: Africa in the African diaspora, the diffusion of African identity.”

Naseem’s commentary and observations of South Asian diasporic issues may have relevance for other regions:
- “One of the more benign and virtuous aspects of globalization in the past three decades or so has been the increase in the migration of people from the poorer, labour-surplus economies of the South to the richer , labour-scarce economies of the North, as well as to some resource-rich, labour-scarce economies within the South, itself.”
- “…They remit a high proportion of their earnings to home countries and are eager to return home with some capital to start a better life in their countries. The Gulf emigrants, however, are treated as a lower species of the diaspora and command very small clout in public policy to the extent one exists in South Asian countries, which attach a much higher weight to the preference of the more affluent sections of diaspora and domestic elites. The phenomenon of elite capture is no less omnipresent than elsewhere in public policy.”

The transcript of evidence recently provided by three UK-based diaspora organisations – African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), AfricaRecruit, and the British Bangladeshi International Development Group – to the House of Commons International Development Select Committee is now available. Memoranda presented by two of the organisations are also available (a version from AFFORD containing an executive summary is available at www.afford-uk.org). Subsequent sessions will focus on the “brain drain” and international recruitment issues; on remittances; and on the economics of migration, and temporary mobility schemes.

“Africa 2005 is an international movement mobilising the African civil society and the international community to make 2005 the world year for Africa. Africa 2005 takes the year 2005 as the starting point to commit itself to increase African influence on a global level.” The organisation’s immediate objective is to unite and mobilise African and international strengths to create an equitable partnership between Africa and the rest of the world. From 2005 onwards, the organisation seeks to demonstrate Africans’ energy and drive; to change perceptions of Africa so it is seen as dynamic and proactive; and to involve people around the world to highlight a successful Africa.

It is not easy to talk of the African diaspora on the internet: it is a very broad and articulate phenomenon since the ties among Africans living abroad, and between the latter and their respective homelands and communities of origin, are strongly supported by the global network today. An initial analysis, however, allows us to establish at least four topic areas concerning the presence of the African diaspora on the internet: the phenomenon as such (that is, the diaspora as an "object" of interest and study); the diaspora as a political and strategic theme; services for the diaspora; and networking among diaspora members.

From February 12 to March 25, every Thursday evening at 7pm, Films from the African Diaspora from the Penn Library's video collection will be shown in the Van Pelt Library's Film Studies Classroom, room 425 (4th Floor). The screenings are sponsored by the Center for Africana Studies, Latino and Latin American Studies, and the University of Pennsylvania Library.

* Africana Studies: Resources for African and African American Studies http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/library/teams/fah/subpathpages/African…
* Africa: Art of the Continent
http://www.artnetweb.com/guggenheim/africa/
* African Art: Aesthetics and Meaning
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/clemons/RMC/exhib/93.ray.aa/African.html
* African Art and the Internet
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/about/press/internet.html
Visit the URL provided for a full list of websites.

With less than a month to go before the first session of the African parliament, interest in the new legislature appears to be at a low in various parts of the continent. In a message posted on its website, the Addis Ababa-based African Union (AU) has urged member states which have not done so to speed up the submission of names of representatives to the Pan-African Parliament. Each country is required to nominate five members from its national parliament to the continental legislature. The AU also requested member states to get formal approval from national legislatures as soon as possible for participation in the African parliament, and to send notification of this approval to the AU Commission. By Thursday (Feb. 26), only 32 of the AU's 53 members had submitted the names of representatives to attend the first session of the parliament.

AfricaRecruit aims to build robust and enduring productive capacity in Africa, especially by helping Africans in the diaspora to secure careers and work assignments in Africa.
* Strategic Skills Seminar for Africa
23-24 March 2004, Nairobi, Kenya
A participative review of best practices and policies aimed at strengthening performance, productivity and employment. This premier networking event will be of interest to all human resource practitioners as well as employers, consultants and policy makers.
* Careers in Africa UK summit 2004
April 23rd-25th 2004, London, UK
AfricaRecruit career/recruitment fair in partnership with Corporate Council for Africa.

Iteso Welfare Association (IWA) is facilitating four discussion forums/workshops to explore and discover realistic visions from ethnic diversity. The main objective is to address problems arising from deep-seated assumptions and attitudes towards self, others and one’s background of other ethnic groups and cultures.

Menbere Waldi Tzadik and her husband slipped into Israel from Ethiopia on tourist visas eight years ago and never left, living in the shadows as illegal workers. They cleaned houses and sent home the small sums they saved to support two children they had not seen since they left their homeland. Tzadik, 35, ached to see her daughter and son, now 14 and 12, and was planning to leave Israel for good within a month. Instead, she is to be buried this week in Jerusalem, one of 11 people killed Thursday on a crowded bus by a Palestinian suicide bomber.

ZNet's Africa Watch tries to present information not only on the African Continent but on the diaspora as well, including the Caribbean. The site currently offers some alternative perspectives on the looming Haiti crisis and the US government’s duplicity.

Emigration figures of highly skilled researchers remain high, but the greatest mobility of high–level skills is now within the country. This is a key finding of Flight of the Flamingos, the Study on Mobility of R&D workers, released by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) on 28 January.

It's a common sight in the Malian capital: large groups of young people queuing in front of the French and American consulates with one objective in mind - to obtain an immigration visa. "I have worked many small jobs (in Mali)...I've taken the...exam for the civil service many times, but without success. The time has come for me to try my luck somewhere else," says 30-year-old Cheikh Keita, a graduate of the National Business School of Bamako, while standing before the French embassy.

3rd March 2004
Speaking FOR the motion:
Richard Dowden - Director of the Royal African Society
Matthew Parris - Former Conservative Member of Parliament, and previously the Presenter of LWT's Weekend World, is a columnist for the Times and The Spectator
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem - General Secretary of the Pan African Movement and Director of Justice Africa
Speaking AGAINST the motion:
Rt Hon Clare Short, MP - Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood. She was Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to May 2003.
Anthony Sampson - Former editor of the magazine Drum (Johannesburg) and author of "Mandela: The authorised Biography"
Sir Marrack Goulding - Warden of St.Antony's College, Oxford. He has held overseas posts in the Middle East, North Africa, New York and is the former Ambassador of Angola. He was UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping (1986-93) and Political Affairs (1993-97).
The debate will be chaired by Nik Gowing, Presenter of BBC World TV News and the former Diplomatic Editor of Channel 4 News.
The debate will take place at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 Doors open at 6pm. The debate starts at 6.45pm and finishes at 8.30pm. Tickets £20 each To book tickets call 020 7494 3345 or email [email protected].

Out in the green, rolling hills of eastern Uganda, near the city of Mbale in the shadow of Mount Elgon, the Abayudaya Jews live as Ugandans always have, supporting themselves through subsistence farming and struggling against the elements to bring in the next harvest. These rural Ugandans share much with their neighbours; the surrounding fields bursting with mango trees, sugar cane, banana trees and cassava, the frequent communal festivals to celebrate birth, marriage and death, the uncertainty of rapidly changing national politics and the exhaustion of poverty. A significant difference between the Abayudaya and their countrymen is that when they raise their heads to the heavens in prayer, their God is not Jesus, Allah or any tribal spirit, but the God of Israel. They set themselves apart through devout Judaism and their adherence to the belief that some day they will become an accepted part of the international Jewish community.