Articulations of Belonging

The Politics of Ethnic and Religious Pluralism in Bauchi and Gombe States, North-East Nigeria

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2103016
AutoresAdam Higazi (University of Cambridge, autor de correspondencia), Jimam Lar
Año2015
Volumen85
Número1
Páginas103-130
Fecha de publicación2015-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAfrica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0001-9720 • E-ISSN: 1750-0184
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0001972014000795
OpenAlexW2023963998
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas17

North-east Nigeria is an area of great ethno-linguistic diversity and religious pluralism, with Islam and Christianity both having a strong presence. The majority of the population is Muslim but there is also a substantial indigenous Christian minority, who form a majority in some local government areas. This paper draws on fieldwork by the authors in two north-eastern states, Bauchi and Gombe, to explore why, despite comparable religious demographics, there are marked differences in the levels of collective violence experienced in the two states. Although ethno-religious violence has increased across northern Nigeria since the 1980s, some areas have been more affected than others. To understand why this is, it is necessary to place ethnic and religious differences in their local historical and political contexts. This paper compares Gombe and Bauchi and argues that, although there are complaints of marginalization among different groups in both cases, Gombe State has developed a more inclusive system of government and local conflict management than Bauchi State. We explore what accounts for this difference in the articulation and management of belonging and whether the contrast is significant enough to explain differential levels of violence. In doing so, we consider how inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations have been shaped historically in the two cases and compare current forms of collective mobilization, considering different social and political spaces within each state. The paper also briefly outlines the impacts of the radical insurgent group Jama'at ahl al-sunna li'l-da'wa wa'l-jihad, nicknamed Boko Haram, in Bauchi and Gombe states

Christianity · Ethnic group · Geography · Indigenous · Islam · Pluralism (philosophy · Political science · Politics · Population · Religious pluralism · Sociology · State (computer science · Anthropology · Demography · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Political Conflict and Governance · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence