The Rise of African Nationalism - Essay Example

Introduction Today, people in Africa talk little about African nationalism and the word “global village” is taking up the place of African nationalism. This has not always been the case. In this paper, we are going to discuss the rise of post-Second World War nationalism in Africa and its true essence. The concept of African nationalism rose in the post-war period in Africa. This was a turning moment for a people whom centuries of slavery and colonialism had deprived of humanity. Ideologies centered on the theme of nationalism and the essence of nationalism was anti-imperialism. It was a claim and struggle against something. It was an expression of a struggle against denial of humanity, denial of respect and dignity and denial of the African identity. It was the struggle to bring back African mind to Africa as well as a time to end the historical experience of racial humiliation, political oppression, economic exploitation and cultural domination under European slavery (Shivji, p6). Three components characterized African nationalism and various emphases, accent and formulations occurred in all African nationalists’ thoughts and consciousness. Pan Africanism, Independence and Racial Equality dominated the continent in the 1950s. Each country’s actions were focused in opposition to imperial domination and this basic opposition effort is what constituted nationalism. The objective of the struggle varies across historical periods, but the struggle is the common principle. Therefore, it is not so much that nations were searching or struggling for dignity, identity and independence, but rather a people facing a common problem of domination and exploitation claiming their freedom. Nationalism can be summed up in to three elements namely Unity, Independence and Equality. The three cannot be separated and together they constitute and express African nationalism (Shivji, p32). African leaders were in the front line in making sure that elements of African nationalism were instilled in the people. For example, Kwame Nkrumah, who studied in the United States and was heavily influenced by the books of African-American theorists such as C.L.R. James and George Padmore, played a major role in introducing Pan-Africanism and articulating the identity of the African people both on the continent and abroad. As early as 1963, Nyerere once admitted that basically, Pan-Africanism meant African unity. Colonialism and imperialism led to the development of ‘African personality’ and ‘Negritude’ theories. At the centre of these theories was the subject of the liberation of the Black man, his personality or the meaning of ‘being-Black-in-the-world’. It was a rational or moral justification for rebellious action against the colonies that led to African Nationalism and thereafter independence. Independence was the greatest political achievement by Africans. It was an exceptional collective accomplishment (Okoth, p6). Sometimes, people confuse early African nationalism with the traditional discussion on the expression and growth of nations in the name of capitalism in the nineteenth century Europe. However, Africa nationalism was an expression of a people that was a remedy to White supremacist rule. It is correct to say that nationalism was a process of struggle in the formation of nations. Therefore, in that sense, perhaps, nationalism preceded nations (Shivji, 2003). To begin their liberation efforts, groups of Militant nationalists internalized this to some extent and decided to go to forest and fight against the colonial oppression and domination from there. This led to more oppression and death of Africans. Those who died while fighting for African liberation were considered national heroes. More and more people from various tribes joined the liberation movement groups. If we take an example of Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), a political and armed freedom fighters’ group in Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, its leader highlighted one of its objectives to the UN Trusteeship Council in 1955 as to build up a national consciousness among the Africans in Tanganyika. Despite the many tribes, they could not afford to stay separated by their ethnic differences under colonial rule (Okoth, p8). Unlike Europeans nations which were formed on the basis of common territory, language, culture and economy, Nyerere and other African leaders understood clearly that African countries, each separated by the colonial boundaries were multi-ethnic, multi-culture, multi-lingual and that they needed to realize the necessity of breaking up the tribal consciousness and building up a national consciousness of the people. This was not a simple task but it was the best way for each country to go (Shivji, pg38). Apart from the national building propositions, Amilcar Cabal suggested that post-war African nationalism contained the aspect of common history among the Africans. Almost all African nations experienced a period of oppression and slavery from Western colonies. The foundation of national liberation was the right of African people to make their own history. It is historically evident that whenever there is oppression, expression for struggle exists. Otherwise, the oppression will continue to exist (Okoth, p12). In Tom Mboya’s book ‘Freedom and After’ as quoted by Shivji, Mboya had written about one of the few All African People’s conferences he had attended in Accra, Ghana in December 6, 1958 and that it was his proudest day of his life. Mboya had also said that the earlier conference marked the rediscovery of Africa by Africans. The rediscovery of Africa by Africans was completely contrasted to the rediscovery of Africa by Europeans. The Africa Independent States conferences gave birth to African personality and delegates finally agreed to rise and be heard at all the councils of the global affairs. The Conference of Independent African States brought together some five hundred delegates from political parties, trade union movements and organizations involved in the awakening that was African nationalism. Patrice Lumumba, Roberto Holden and Dr. Kamuzu Banda were there (Shivji, pg45). After independence, African nationalism has been dealing with the transformation of the modalities of imperialist domination. The central discourse on the Nationalism has run along different lines. In both side of the political arena i.e. right and left, the central debate has been over whether Africa has nations and nationalities or tribes and tribal royalists. From the western worldview, nations characterize a higher level in the evolution of political and social formations than tribes do. Fed on this concept and understanding of nations, European nations are therefore unable to get nations within the territorial unit called African countries. Immediately after independence, Pan-Africanism resolved to form Organization of African unity (OAU) as a vehicle to African Unity and to support the liberation movements in the remaining colonies. South Africa was facing apartheid and OAU was embarking on supporting the liberation efforts of ‘Black Africans’ (Okoth, p15). Although many countries had attained Freedom or Independence, there was another significance freedom, which they faced; the freedom of self-determination and the right to make their own decisions. Sovereignty of the state is the external aspect of self-determination. Independence and sovereignty meant that the nations were practically recognized in international law. However, this was limited by the Cold War where those African leaders who took their independence were targeted by imperialist. For example, Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown, Patrice Lumumba was assassinated, Thomas Sankara was murdered and Nyerere had to be tactical to survive (Shivji, p50). These subdivisions within the territorial sections of the African continent have been used by the former colonies and other developed nations to deflate and delegitimise African nationalist movements and their achievements. With the current control of neo-liberalism and the imperialist reappearance, the leaders of imperialism have been swift to criticize nationalism as nothing more than an expression of tribalism and ethnicity. Conclusion Early nationalism renovated after World War II from a movement for the influential leaders to a movement of the masses. The Africans who had battled alongside Europeans discovered that their colonial conquerors could be overcome. Italy’s attack of Ethiopia, the only African country that stayed independent, produced bitterness and great anger among Africans who would become leaders in Independent Africa. For example, Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of independent Ghana, wished to be one of the people who would cause colonial and imperial system to die. I agree with Powers that Pan-Africanism and early nationalism ushered in mass demonstrations against colonial rule and African independence movements. Works Cited Okoth, A., (2006). A History of Africa: African nationalism and the de-colonization process. Nairobi: East Africa Publishers. Powers, J.,9 (2001). Early African Nationalism and Pan-Africanism . Retrieved 30th April, 2009 from: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/african_history/62933/2 Shivji, G., (2003). The Rise, the Fall and the Insurrection of Nationalism in Africa. Delhi: New Age. Read More