Ideologies:African Nationalism

African Nationalism

Caption
Name	African Nationalism
Creation Date	19th century
Orgs	ANC, All Peoples Congress
People	Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof, Nelson Mandela
Related	ANC

Summary

African nationalism is an umbrella term which refers to a group of political ideologies in West, Central, East and Southern Africa, which are based on the idea of national self-determination and the creation of nation states.[1] The ideology emerged under European colonial rule during the 19th and 20th centuries and was loosely inspired by nationalist ideas from Europe.

Caption
Name	African Nationalism
Creation Date	19th century
Orgs	ANC, All Peoples Congress
People	Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof, Nelson Mandela
Related	ANC

History

Originally, African nationalism was based on demands for self-determination and played an important role in forcing the process of decolonisation of Africa (c. 1957–66). However, the term refers to a broad range of different ideological and political movements and should not be confused with Pan-Africanism which may seek the federation of many or all nation states in Africa.[3]

Nationalist ideas in Africa emerged during the mid-19th century among the emerging black middle classes in West Africa. Early nationalists hoped to overcome ethnic fragmentation by creating nation-states.[4] In its earliest period, it was inspired by African-American and Afro-Caribbean intellectuals from the Back-to-Africa movement who imported nationalist ideals current in Europe and the Americas at the time.[5] The early African nationalists were elitist and believed in the supremacy of Western culture but sought a greater role for themselves in political decision-making.[6] They rejected African traditional religions and tribalism as "primitive" and embraced western ideas of Christianity, modernity, and the nation state.[7] However, one of the challenges faced by nationalists in unifying their nation after European rule were the divisions of tribes and the formation of ethnicism. African nationalism first emerged as a mass movement in the years after World War II as a result of wartime changes in the nature of colonial rule as well as social change in Africa itself.[8] Nationalist political parties were established in almost all African colonies during the 1950s, and their rise was an important reason for the decolonisation of Africa between c.1957 and 1966. However, African nationalism was never a single movement, and political groups considered to be African nationalists varied by economic orientation and degrees of radicalism and violence.[3] Nationalists leaders struggled to find their own social and national identity following the European influence that controlled the political landscape during the colonial occupation.

African nationalism in the colonial era was often framed purely in opposition to colonial rule and was therefore frequently unclear or contradictory about its other objectives.[9] According to historian Robert I. Rotberg, African nationalism would not have emerged without colonialism.[10] Its relation to Pan-Africanism was also ambiguous, with many nationalist leaders professing Pan-African loyalties but still refusing to commit to supranational unions. African nationalists of the period have also been criticised for their continued use of ideas and policies associated with colonial states.[9] In particular, nationalists usually attempted to preserve national frontiers created arbitrarily under colonial rule after independence and create a national sense of national identity among the heterogeneous populations inside them.[10]

Groups

Women as national leaders Women were fundamental nationalist leaders in their own right. Under the inspiration of Bibi Titi Mohammed, a former singer in Dar es Salaam who became a Tanganyikan nationalist, Tanzanian women were organised into a Women's Section of the Tanganyikan African National Union. Mohammed, who was semi-illiterate, was an impressive orator and later combined her nationalist work in the 1950s with her political ambitions. She was one of the most visible Tanganyikan nationalists during the struggle against colonialism and imperialism.[16] She was the only nationalist leader, besides Julius Nyerere, who was recognized across the country at the time of Tanzanian independence. Her legacy as a leader, speaker, organiser and activist is testimony to the pivotal role played by many uneducated women in spreading a national consciousness, a political awareness and securing independence from British rule in Tanzania.

Criticisms

South Africa

The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election resulted in Nelson Mandela being elected as President of South Africa.

Founded on 8 January 1912 in Bloemfontein as the South African Native National Congress, the organisation was formed to advocate for the rights of black South Africans. When the National Party government came to power in 1948, the ANC's central purpose became to oppose the new government's policy of institutionalised apartheid.

In the post-apartheid era, the ANC continues to identify itself foremost as a liberation movement, although it is also a registered political party.

Gambia

See also: Politics of the Gambia and History of the Gambia In the Gambia, one of the prominent Gambian nationalists and Pan-Africanists during the colonial era was Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof. From the 1950s up to Gambia's independence, Cham Joof (as he is commonly referred to), held a series of campaigns against the British colonial administration. In 1958, he spearheaded the All Party Committee – the purpose of which was for self-governance and to determine the political direction of the Gambia free from European colonialism and neo-colonialism. In 1959, he organised the Bread and Butter demonstration from outside his house in Barthurst now Banjul, and led his followers to Government House to lobby the British colonial administration. Following that demonstration, Cham Joof and his associates Crispin Grey Johnson and M. B. Jones were indicted as "inciting the public to disobey the laws of the land" and charged as political prisoners