Nationalism and the pursuit of international peace: A comparative study of nationalist movements in Africa and Europe
Start Date
10-2-2021 4:00 PM
End Date
10-2-2021 4:30 PM
Proposal Type
Presentation
Proposal Description
Nationalism and the pursuit of international peace: A comparative study of nationalist movements in Africa and Europe
Sebastian Angzoorokuu Paalo[1]
&
Samuel Adu-Gyamfi[2]
[1]PhD candidate, School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland, Australia, s.paalo@uq.net.au
[2]Senior Lecturer and Head of Department, Department of History and Political Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi-Ghana, mcygamfi@yahoo.com
Questions of nationalism, regionalism, globalism etc., have gravely impacted domestic and international politics and economies; provoked identity contentions; and stimulated a growing interest in discourses on the histories of empires, contemporary politics, and development. While issues of regionalism and continentalism appear to assume a largely positive posture, for instance concerning political and economic integration in Europe and the US, and attempted economic and political integration in Africa, especially within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region, the phenomenon of nationalism poses key dilemmas for socio-economic and political advancements in many countries and regions globally. Nationalist movements are global phenomena with a long historical trace as witnessed, for instance with independence uprisings in the former colonies in Africa and Asia, aboriginal issues in Australia and Canada, and secessionist movements in Eastern Europe and Catalonia (Spain). While nationalism is a global challenge, it appears to more severely affect post-colonial settings, most especially Africa.
While burgeoning scholarly discussions addressed nationalist movements and their impact on cultures, politics, and development, the extant literature remains disparate. Consequently, scholarship fails to bring into a comprehensive conversation different types of nationalist movements and how they influence or are influenced by domestic and global politics and trade. This chapter aims to address this knowledge gap through a comparison of four cases: the Western Togoland separatist movement in the Volta/Oti region of Ghana, Southern (Anglophone) Cameroon’s separatist movement, the movement for independent South Sudan, and the movement for independent Catalonia. The selection of both post-colonial and Western cases enables the study to broadly and comprehensively engage and examine how themes such as political history, state legitimacy, the character of state and regional /continental organizations affect conflicts and peacebuilding efforts emanating from nationalist movements. The study adopts a qualitative desktop study of secondary, policy, and online news sources, to adequately tease out the nuances emerging from the thematic comparative analytical framework.
Nationalism and the pursuit of international peace: A comparative study of nationalist movements in Africa and Europe
Nationalism and the pursuit of international peace: A comparative study of nationalist movements in Africa and Europe
Sebastian Angzoorokuu Paalo[1]
&
Samuel Adu-Gyamfi[2]
[1]PhD candidate, School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland, Australia, s.paalo@uq.net.au
[2]Senior Lecturer and Head of Department, Department of History and Political Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi-Ghana, mcygamfi@yahoo.com
Questions of nationalism, regionalism, globalism etc., have gravely impacted domestic and international politics and economies; provoked identity contentions; and stimulated a growing interest in discourses on the histories of empires, contemporary politics, and development. While issues of regionalism and continentalism appear to assume a largely positive posture, for instance concerning political and economic integration in Europe and the US, and attempted economic and political integration in Africa, especially within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region, the phenomenon of nationalism poses key dilemmas for socio-economic and political advancements in many countries and regions globally. Nationalist movements are global phenomena with a long historical trace as witnessed, for instance with independence uprisings in the former colonies in Africa and Asia, aboriginal issues in Australia and Canada, and secessionist movements in Eastern Europe and Catalonia (Spain). While nationalism is a global challenge, it appears to more severely affect post-colonial settings, most especially Africa.
While burgeoning scholarly discussions addressed nationalist movements and their impact on cultures, politics, and development, the extant literature remains disparate. Consequently, scholarship fails to bring into a comprehensive conversation different types of nationalist movements and how they influence or are influenced by domestic and global politics and trade. This chapter aims to address this knowledge gap through a comparison of four cases: the Western Togoland separatist movement in the Volta/Oti region of Ghana, Southern (Anglophone) Cameroon’s separatist movement, the movement for independent South Sudan, and the movement for independent Catalonia. The selection of both post-colonial and Western cases enables the study to broadly and comprehensively engage and examine how themes such as political history, state legitimacy, the character of state and regional /continental organizations affect conflicts and peacebuilding efforts emanating from nationalist movements. The study adopts a qualitative desktop study of secondary, policy, and online news sources, to adequately tease out the nuances emerging from the thematic comparative analytical framework.