Topic 2: Africa in the Era of Decolonization

In the Era of Decolonization, we can observe an enormous rise of nationalism, both in terms of each nation and state, as well as in terms of pan-isms, such as Pan-Africanism, Pan-Arabism, Pan-Islamism, Pan-Somalism, etc.

Decolonization in Africa

Decolonization in Africa, by its nature, was a social change leading to emancipation of Africans and social and cultural transformation as a necessary alternative to colonial rule. Decolonization after the Second World War was a necessary process that was accelerated by the independence of India and Pakistan although it seems now that the aim of Great Britain (as well as other powers) was not to abandon the Empire, but rather to reinvigorate it. Despite a continuous fall of the Empire, white supremacy did not disappear from the colonized world so quickly as was the example of South Africa. There, the policy of apartheid legitimized the white rule and any kind of equality would question this “legitimacy.” On the other hand, other dominions were for long based on white supremacy and it took a long time until the so-called “first nations,” or the indigenous populations were made equal by law.

The process of decolonization led to continuous and slow (in some cases, such as Guinea, very quick) loss of white supremacy and transfer of power into the hands of local elites, many of them educated in the West and some of them loyal to their colonial masters. Racial superiority began to be challenged by ethno-national, nationalist as well as international movements such as Pan-Africanism. In this process, Ethiopia played a specific role on one hand as an inspiration due to its history of victory over European colonialism, on the other hand, Ethiopia lacked those kinds of links that other colonies had with their former colonial masters.

Nationalism can be:

Ethnonational

subnational,

national,

consociational,

international,

transnational,

multinational,

supranational.

Each form of nationalism would satisfy some, if not all, of the following attributes:

1) a large centralized government (or state);

2) a common territory;

3) a collective proper name;

4) common myths of ancestry or origin;

5) a common language;

6) a common economic life and policy;

7) common rights and duties for all citizens, plus a common mental makeup;

8) ideological background serving as guidance to leaders of the nationalist movement and contributing to the emergence of the nation;

9) existing links between the masses and the aristocracy;

10) a common public culture or education system.