Description
Book SynopsisThis edited collection of essays answers a basic question posed by contemporary discourse on state building: How might people''s identification with a particular ethnic group matter? Essays in this book use an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to understanding regional and local community culture and socio-political development in developing countries-especially in Sub-Saharan Africa-to argue that the state, as well as civil society, confers on cultural differences a legitimacy that can be achieved in no other way but by positive cooperation. Contributors from different countries look at local patterns in state building and modernization as they have unfolded over the course of the last fifty years. They claim that the people and ethnic groups in most developing countries adhere to a concept of popular sovereignty that testifies that aspects of positive and moral ethnicity can contribute to social change as in China, economic development as in India, or in a democratization proce
Trade ReviewSaha has put together an impressive set of new articles and essays that challenge the conventional pessimistic view of ethnicity as a negative force in African and other developing nations, instead illustrating the positive role of ethnicity in political and social life. This is a refreshing perspective on the value of ethnic diversity at a time when ethnicity is too often cited as the primary source of social ills and conflict. It is therefore a valuable book for anyone seeking a more balanced perspective on the multifaceted—and potentially positive—role of ethnicity in the developing world. -- Clayton D. Peoples, University of Nevada, Reno
Table of ContentsPart 1 African Countries Chapter 2 Moral Ethnicity in Sub-Saharan African National Identity Issues: Ethnicity and State-Building Chapter 3 Reconstructing or Dismantling the Nation? A New Rwanda Chapter 4 Education for Social Change in Burundi and Rwanda: Creating a National Identity beyond the Politics of Ethnicity Chapter 5 Rwanda-Burundi's "National-Ethnic" Dilemma: Democracy, Deep Divisions and Conflict Re-Represent Chapter 6 Overstating the Connection between Ethnicity and Military Coups d'Etats in Africa: A Meta-analysis Part 7 Other Developing Countries Chapter 8 Third-Party Intervention in Ethnic Conflict: Turkey's Intervention in Cyprus and Role Theory Chapter 9 Ethnicity and the Role of Education as a Mechanism for National Unity in China Chapter 10 Ethnic and Civil Nationhood in India: Concept, History, Institutional Innovations and Contemporary Challenges Chapter 11 The Palestinians and the Kurds: A Comparative Analysis Part 12 Bibliography Part 13 Contributors Part 14 Index
