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 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
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| Title: | When Does an Indigene/Immigrant Become a Citizen? Reflections on the Nation-State in Contemporary Africa |
| Author: | Abdullah, Ibrahim |
| Year: | 2003 |
| Periodical: | African Sociological Review (ISSN 1027-4332) |
| Volume: | 7 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 113-117 |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | biblio. refs. |
| Geographic term: | Africa |
| Subjects: | nation nationality Politics and Government colonialism History and Exploration Ethnic and Race Relations sociology Conflicts immigrants indigenous peoples social history citizenship |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/43657706 |
| Abstract: | Did the nation precede the formation of the modern State in Africa? Or was the State created before the nation was born? These questions are central, in the author's view, to understanding the nature and substance of conflicts in contemporary Africa. The State that was created under colonial enlightenment was an exclusive project that served the needs of the colonizing 'other' and the precapitalist ruling groups. The configuration of forces under this dispensation did not allow for the development of a civil society. This exclusive paradigm came under strain during the period of decolonization. The divisions between the civic and the ethnic are crucial to understanding the notion of citizenship in Africa. In theory, citizenship is available to all nationals in every African country. Indigeneship, however, is restricted to natives, with roots in a particular space/community. The immigrant/non-indigene dialectic restricts the rights of people based on their perceived externality to an area. The citizenship discourse should be reconfigured to engage meaningfully with the different forms and patterns of exclusion prevalent in the continent. Ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |
