Anathematized and outlawed by African nationalism early in the postcolonial period, ethnicity has now eclipsed nationalism. It has proved by far the most potent force for political mobilization. The studies in this volume provide ample evidence of this potency of ethnicity. The authors focus on ethnicity's relationship to the state and try to account for the twists and turns that mark the history of this relationship.
Contents: PART 1. NARRATIVES OF ETHNICITY -- Linking the Future to the Past - Ethnicity and Pluralism / Martin Doornbos -- Ethnicity and Democracy - A Viable Alliance? / Eva Poluha – Tigray - The Birth of a Nation within the Ethiopian Polity / Adhana H. Adhana -- Towards Identifying some of the Moral Components of an Oromo National Identity / P.T.W. Baxter -- Power and the Discourse of Ethnicity in Sudan / Jay O´Brien -- Political Narratives and Identity Formation in post-1989 Sudan / M.A. Mohamed Salih -- Ethnicity as a Mode of Conflict Regulation / A.B.C. Ocholla-Ayayo -- PART 2. CASE STUDIES -- The Rise of Politicized Ethnicity among the Oromo in Ethiopia / Paulos Chanie -- Afar Ethnicity in Ethiopian Politics / Ali Said -- Amhara Ethnicity in the Making / Tegegne Teka -- The Politics of Identity - The Case of the Gurage in Ethiopia / John Markakis -- Emissaries ror Conflict Management among the Zaghawa on the Sudan - Chad Border / Sharif Harir -- Dynamics of Ethnicity - A case Study from the Western Bagamoyo District in Tanzania / Helena Jerman -- Ethnopolitics and the State - Lessons from Uganda / E.F. Byarugaba -- Neutralizing Ethnicity in Uganda / Frank Emmanuel Muhereza and Peter Omurangi Otim