"The Niger delta region of Nigeria which is at the heart of the country's oil industry, has a long history of struggles for self-determination dating back to the early years of the 20[superscript th] century. In the 1980s and 1990s, these struggles, unfolding as they did within the context of military authoritarianism and structural adjustment, took the form of widespread agitation for greater control by local communities of the revenues accruing to the Nigerian state from exploration and extraction of oil." "This study attempts to capture the transformations in ethnic minority identity politics in the oil-producing areas of the Niger delta. In doing this, attention is simultaneously drawn to the factors informing the shift from peaceful agitation to violent protest as well as the dynamic of decay and renewal in the various ethnic minority movements that are active in the delta. It is suggested that part of the solution to the crisis in the delta will involve not only a thorough-going restructuring of the Nigerian state but also the re-orientation of the mode of operation of the giant oil multinationals in order to make them both more sensitive and accountable to the local communities."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This book examines the significance of the 2015 elections in consolidating Nigeria’s democracy, in the context of the difficulty of routinizing democracy since the attainment of nationhood in 1960 and the return to civil rule in May 1999, in particular. It offers a complete analysis of Nigeria’s electoral process, outlining how the dynamics of limited changes in the constitutional, institutional, attitudinal and behavioural frameworks that underpin electoral competition played out in the elections. The authors further examine the conduct and outcome of the 2015 elections against the background of the pattern of electoralism that had been established since the return to democracy in 1999. In doing so, they draw attention to the dialectics of continuity and change that have been thrown up by the elections and how the lessons learned can be used to build a more enduring democratic system. The book will be of interest to students and academics of political science, development studies, democratisation and election studies, and African government and politics.
Performing Identities brings together essays by scholars, artists and activists engaged in understanding and conserving rapidly disappearing local knowledge forms of indigenous communities across continents. It depicts the imaginative transactions evident in the interface of identity and cultural transformation, raising the issue of cultural rights of these otherwise marginalized communities.
Turbulent times challenge democratic politics and governance in Western countries. Party systems, in many instances, have failed to produce solutions to vital policy problems, like immigration, state borders, welfare, or environmental issues. While subjective perceptions of macroeconomic outcomes are consistently related to political trust at the micro level, few studies have explored how individuals develop political engagement and identity. New insights are needed from studies focusing on how people become politically active and how political identities develop. Political Identity and Democratic Citizenship in Turbulent Times is a critical scholarly research publication that investigates, discusses, deconstructs, analyzes, and tests the concept of political identity and its evolving role in modern democracy. Moreover, it explores the contours of politics and brings together studies that examine the democratic potential of a diversity of participatory spheres, institutions, and arenas. Highlighting topics such as political culture, consumerism, and welfare states, this book is ideal for politicians, policymakers, government officials, sociologists, historians, academicians, professionals, researchers, and students.
Developing a solid basis for future research and training, this illuminating volume facilitates peace and mutual understanding between people by addressing a root cause of social conflicts: identity constructions. The volume encompasses eight revealing empirical case studies from regions throughout the world, conducted by experts from diverse disciplinary backgrounds. Each case study examines how identities are being constructed and used in the region, how these identities are related to borders and in what ways identity constructions foment peace or conflict. The volume summarizes insights gleaned from these studies and formulates an analytical framework for understanding the role of identity constructions in conflict or peace.
Marginality and Crisis: Globalization and Identity in Contemporary Africa extends the scope and understanding of the effects of globalization and its forces on Africa. With each chapter written by specialists who recognize that the future of Africa is entwined with that of the rest of the world, this volume explains with fresh vigor the new thinking on the historical specificity, value, opportunity, and shortcomings of globalization for a continent many regard as marginalized and in crisis. In the face of much pessimism, several questions have engaged the attention of this young generation of African scholars: Where is Africa in relation to globalization? Where are the things that make Africa Africa (such as economy, politics, culture, identity, and human relations) headed? Are Africa's communities helpless against global forces or empowered by new avenues of access? How do scholars and policymakers engage the problems of globalization vis-^-vis Africa's ethnic, linguistic, and other identities? What are the economic and political trajectories in various countries and localities? An invaluable source for scholars, students, and the general reader, the essays in this book have confidently and clearly explored and explained the crises that have engulfed the continent in the age of globalization. Unlike other works that have dwelt only on the continent's victimhood, this volume identifies key areas in which Africa can become more proactive and outward-looking in response to the forces and values that take the globe as their reference points.
Can subalterns transform themselves into members of the elite, and what does it take to do so? And how do those efforts reveal the nature of ethnic politics in postcolonial Africa? How to Become a Big Man in Africa: Subalternity, Elites, and Ethnic Politics in Contemporary Nigeria examines these questions by revealing how, through ethno-regional conflict, violence and cultural activities, an artisan, Gani Adams, transformed himself into the holder of the most prestigious chieftaincy title among the Yoruba. Addressing persistent gaps in anthropological studies of the subaltern and of "big men" in politics through in-depth biography and rich social history, Wale Adebanwi follows Adams and other major figures in Nigeria's Oodua People's Congress (OPC) over two decades of ethnographic study and visual representations. Challenging existing models of African political mobility by leveraging his initial lack of formal education into a position of power, Adams moved from a "radical lumpen" and "area boy" to a "big man" who continues to struggle—and reflect—over the significance of his role as a cultural subject. Blurring the lines between tradition and modernity, Adams and his group have used Yoruba rituals to simultaneously claim authenticity and champion new movements for democracy and self-determination. How to Become a Big Man in Africa encourages us to understand the full complexity of Adams's political trajectory and how it reflects the structural and personal realities of becoming a "Big Man" in the contemporary postcolony.
Recognition is often considered a means to de-escalate conflicts and promote peaceful social interactions. This volume explores the forms that social recognition and its withholding may take in asymmetric armed conflicts, examining the risks and opportunities that arise when local, state, and transnational actors recognise, misrecognise, or deny recognition of armed non-state actors. By studying key asymmetric conflicts through the prism of recognition, it offers an innovative perspective on the interactions between armed non-state actors and state actors. In what contexts does granting recognition to armed non-state actors foster conflict transformation? What happens when governments withhold recognition or label armed non-state actors in ways they perceive as misrecognition? The authors examine the ambivalence of recognition processes in violent conflicts and their sometimes-unintended consequences. The volume shows that, while non-recognition prevents conflict transformation, the recognition of armed non-state actors may produce counterproductive precedents and new modes of exclusion in intra-state and transnational politics.
This book reflects on Nigeria’s fourth republic, the country’s longest democratic period since it gained independence from Great Britain. It argues that although constitutional or political democracy has lasted for over two decades in Nigeria and seen three successful democratic changes of power, Nigeria’s democracy remains largely militarised. During Nigeria’s fourth republic, political and socio-economic affairs have been increasingly dominated by a pervasive military presence and ideology, which has seen a redistribution of resources and government funds away from social programmes into an increase in security budgets, weapons proliferation, and internal military interventions and occupations. This institutionalisation of violence has turned the country into a national security state where the rule of force and violence rather than dialogue and compassion reflect everyday reality. Whilst acknowledging the history of militarisation during colonial and military rule, this book makes a compelling argument for considering the distinct character of the Nigerian nation state’s path to militarisation over the last 20 years of experimentation with democracy. This book’s fresh insights into the fourth republic’s path to militarisation will be of interest to researchers of African politics, security and development.