Collective Memory and Nation-Building in Africa
Africanus: Journal of Development Studies
View Publication Info| Field | Value | |
| Title |
Collective Memory and Nation-Building in Africa
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| Creator |
Iroanya, Obinna
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| Subject |
collective memory
recollection nation-building |
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| Description |
Based on documentary analysis, this article argues that lessons of violent conflicts are rarely appropriated positively for nation-building in the context of post-conflict African societies. The article further stresses that the reasons often projected as causes of ineffective nation-building, such as multiple ethnicity and neo-colonialism, are unjustifiably projected as causal factors. It argues that diverse ethnicity remains a dormant destructive force until operationalised for political gains through misappropriation and deployment of collective memories. In the African context, post-conflict societies adopt the mixed approach of selective amnesia which emphasises amnesty, reconciliation, rehabilitation and reintegration as necessary for nation-building. Experience, however, suggests that the operationalisation of this approach is always marred by inconsistencies and repression. Consequently, repressive mechanisms suppress violence and achieve relative stability. True reconciliation which is critical for nation-building is never achieved. Among loser ethnic groups (hereafter loser groups), resistance to selective amnesia and simultaneous preoccupation with collective memory of victimisation, discrimination and injustice continue to reinforce sentiments of group exceptionality and separatist impulses rather than national consciousness. Therefore, cautious expression of citizenship among segments of the loser groups continues to attract mutual suspicion and distrust from leadership of post-conflict states. It is concluded that the challenge of social contradictions in post-conflict societies is serious because neither the state nor loser groups positively deploy memory of conflict for nation-building. A new reconciliatory approach drawn largely from lessons of history is recommended for post-conflict nation-building efforts in post-conflict African states. Positive appropriation and deployment of memory for nation-building ensures amnesty and restoration without repercussions; and remembrance without resentment.
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| Publisher |
Unisa Press
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| Date |
2021-06-23
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| Type |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article |
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| Format |
application/pdf
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| Identifier |
https://upjournals.co.za/index.php/Africanus/article/view/5797
10.25159/2663-6522/5797 |
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| Source |
Africanus: Journal of Development Studies; Vol. 50 No. 1 (2020); 19 pages
2663-6522 0304-615X |
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| Language |
eng
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| Relation |
https://upjournals.co.za/index.php/Africanus/article/view/5797/4733
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| Rights |
Copyright (c) 2021 Unisa Press
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