Ethnicity and National Integration in West Africa 1

Many writers on West Africa, whether academic or popular, assert that there is currently a conflict between tribalism and nationalism which threatens the stability of the new West African nations. The dysfunctional aspects of ethnicity for national integration are obvious. The Gemeinschaft-like community to which the individual belongs may no longer be exactly the same group as before; the methods of government are different; the role in the national social structure is different. By means of ethnic contacts, the individual is recruited into many non-ethnic nationalist groupings. One of the major values of contemporary West African nations is that of equality. Individuals may feel helpless to try to achieve this goal by their own efforts. The most important mechanism to reduce the conflict between ethnicity and national integration is the nationalist party. Almost all of the West African countries have seen the emergence of a single party which has led the nationalist struggle and dominates the local political scene

Ethnic group · Geography · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Anthropology

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