Book contents
- From Divided Pasts to Cohesive Futures
- From Divided Pasts to Cohesive Futures
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Understanding Processes of Change in Social Cohesion: Learning from Comparative History
- Part I Social Cohesion in Africa: Case Studies of Past and Present
- Part II Policies and Institutions for Social Cohesion
- Part III Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
- Index
- References
Introduction: Understanding Processes of Change in Social Cohesion: Learning from Comparative History
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2019
Book contents
- From Divided Pasts to Cohesive Futures
- From Divided Pasts to Cohesive Futures
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Understanding Processes of Change in Social Cohesion: Learning from Comparative History
- Part I Social Cohesion in Africa: Case Studies of Past and Present
- Part II Policies and Institutions for Social Cohesion
- Part III Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
- Index
- References
Summary
The social cohesion of multiethnic states is today at risk across the globe. African states have been facing that risk since their independence from colonial rule more than half a century ago. As elsewhere in the world, Africa’s histories of division and contest have sown seeds of political, social, and economic instability. However, Africa is not a place; it is a large continent. There are nearly 40 states south of the Sahara. A few are constantly wracked by instability, while the rest of the continent is experiencing considerable economic transformation. Ethnic conflict is not universal in Africa.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- From Divided Pasts to Cohesive FuturesReflections on Africa, pp. 1 - 12Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019
References
Langer, A., Stewart, F., Smedts, K. and Demarest, L. 2017. Conceptualising and measuring social cohesion in Africa: Towards a perceptions-based index. Social Indicators Research. 131(1): 321–343.Google Scholar
Lonsdale, J. 2002. Globalization, ethnicity and democracy: A view from “The hopeless continent”, In Hopkins, A. G. (ed.), Globalization in World History. London: Pimlico, pp. 194–219.Google Scholar
Polanyi, K. (1944) The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of our Time. Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Stewart, F. (Ed.). 2008. Horizontal Inequalities and Conflict: Understanding Group Violence in Multiethnic Societies. London: Palgrave.Google Scholar