An incoherent state‐identity approach to African regional disorder

• Published date: 01 December 2024
• Author: Victor Alexandre G. Teixeira
• Date: 01 December 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21443

RESEARCH ARTICLE

An incoherent state-identity approach

to African regional disorder

Victor Alexandre G. Teixeira

Faculty of Political Science,

Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok,

Thailand

Correspondence

Victor Alexandre G. Teixeira, Faculty of

Political Science, Chulalongkorn

University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Email: victorale@zoho.com

Abstract

In contrast to the conventional literature, which sug-

gests that African disorder underlies religious factors,

strategic resources, and ethnic conflicts, this paper offers

an analytical account of structural patterns in “State

identity.”A new concept model of state identity is pro-

posed through a designed framework for the identity-

building process and is justified by social theories and

psychoanalysis. This study argues that historical and

traumatic social parameters formed an incoherent state

identity due to an interruption in the group-nation state

evolutionary process. No existing study articulates the

construction of a self-identity within the state's integra-

tive process, its development (or interruption thereof) in

a sub-categorical identity, and its causal relation to con-

flicts; hence, the current study fills that gap.

When exploring how the environment molds one's sense of self, it is crucial to consider the vari-

ous contributing factors to this process. Social interactions and cultural influences can pro-

foundly shape an individual's identity within a state context. Despite Africa's history of rich

civilizations, a significant portion of its population grapples with severe social challenges such

as hunger, malnutrition, and disease outbreaks, leading to elevated mortality rates across many

African nations. The latest United Nations report (UN, 2022) reveals that 48 million individuals

in Western and Central Africa are currently facing extreme hunger. Internal conflicts, responsi-

ble for the loss of thousands of lives and hindering economic and social advancements in most

African countries, stand out as a primary factor contributing to this dire situation. The socioeco-

nomic reality in Africa presents some of the bleakest statistics globally. Regions like Lake Chad,

Liptako-Gourma in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, and others

confront ethnic conflicts and the daunting task of eradicating hunger and poverty, claiming

thousands of lives annually.

Received: 1 October 2022 Revised: 9 May 2024 Accepted: 26 June 2024

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21443

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2024;42:259–278. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq © 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 259

In nations like Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone,

and Togo, food insecurity has surged dramatically (UN, 2022). Conversely, countries such as

South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia boast the most diversified economies on the conti-

nent, featuring industrial growth and robust trade sectors that offer improved living conditions

compared to other African regions. Literature presents a myriad of causes and explanations for

conflicts in various fields of study. In the African context, conflicts are multifaceted, arising

from a mix of factors including inequality (Stiglitz, 2016), poverty, arbitrary colonial border divi-

sions, the diverse ethnic makeup of African states, ineffective political leadership, corruption,

and the adverse impacts of external debt burdens (Acemoglu & Robinson, 2020). These ele-

ments have played significant roles in fueling and exacerbating conflicts across the African

continent.

By comprehensively examining these underlying causes, researchers can attain a deeper

understanding of the complexities surrounding conflicts in Africa. Following a multi-theoretical

approach and using arguments based on empirical studies, this research propels the initial steps

toward constructing a novel explanation for Africa's complex instability. An analysis of the find-

ings suggests that the disruption of the state-building process, attributed to colonization,

resulted in the formation of an incoherent state identity.

Scholarly literature often attributes various conflicts in Africa to the legacies of colonization.

For instance, Kaplan (2009) reaffirms that governance illegitimacy and poor governance that

weaken weak states are due to colonialism and have combined to separate group nations from

their environments, governments from their societies, and elites from their citizens. Without

inclusive local institutionalism, the state can neither “leverage the histories and customs”of its

people to build effective formal institutions with broad legitimacy nor develop its socio-political

economy to manage the affairs of the state, dramatically increasing inequality (Kaplan, 2009,

p. 471; see also Stiglitz, 2013,2020; Deaton, 2015; Piketty, 2018). We recognize the complexity

of the factors contributing to disorder in Africa, but can we unravel the events that led to eco-

nomic and social disorder? The authors propose an innovative approach, supporting the claim

that the interrupted state-building process caused by colonization in Africa resulted in a frag-

mented and incoherent “State identity”(collective), intricately connected to conflicts and gover-

nance challenges. Certainly, the role of identity in African politics is a symptom of Africa's

underdevelopment due to colonization (Taylor, 2018, p. 199). In the realm of African underde-

velopment due to colonization, Khisa and Rwengabo (2022) observe that the Ugandan govern-

ment has pursued an imperial-colonial strategy by establishing new local power structures

termed “randomization,”contrasting with the idea of “discretization”that has led to emerging

group kingdoms under established leadership (Khisa & Rwengabo, 2022, p. 8). These regional

entities, marked by their cultural and social disparities and “imperfect identities,”undermine

social cohesion and the formation of state identity, fueling power struggles among groups aspir-

ing to establish new kingdoms.

This anti-social dynamic engenders perceptions and practices of social exclusion, driven by

the images conveyed through collective identities in interactions, concurrently amplifying nar-

ratives rooted in the traumas of colonization and slavery. “Social exclusion”can trigger a chain

of ethnic conflicts. For instance, in 2016, Tim Cocks illustrated how the marginalized nomadic

Fulani ethnic group in Mali, recruited by radical factions due to government neglect, retaliated.

In response, these rebel groups, identifying with the Fulani ethnicity, initiated counterattacks.

Subsequently, the Malian military backed and trained a Dogon militia, leading to systematic

assaults on Fulani villages and triggering further counterattacks (Benjaminsen & Bou-

bacar, 2021, p. 5). This disrupted the prior relative peace between the Dogon and Fulani groups,

260 ALEXANDRE G. TEIXEIRA