Nationalism & Decolonialism

1 Did African nationalism significantly hasten the process of decolonisation? Due to the many contradictory perspectives on nationalism among historians, political scientists, and anthropologists—and in particular, nationalism in the African context—it is imperative to define how the term will be used in this essay. Relying on Benedict Anderson’s definition of a nation as “an imagined political community – and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign” to first address the less disputed facet of nationalism, like other nationalist movements, African nationalism had to first transcend ethnic and kinship groups to establish a sense of national consciousness. 1 Much more contested is whether African nationalism deviated from prior strains of nationalism. Lord Hailey, in the revision to his expansive survey, claims that nationalism in Africa is distinct from the nationalism he heavily associates with Europe—going so far as to label the former “Africanism”. 2 Although Lord Hailey’s assertion was supported by Africanists like Elspeth Huxley and Diedrich Westermann, this separation is flawed and reflects another endeavor by colonial administrators and historians to set Africa on a separate trajectory from the world beyond its borders. 34 As Anderson details in his landmark monograph, Imagined Communities , as in African colonies, many of the European national struggles were against imperial forces. 5 Similarly, once nationalism is “treated…as if it belonged with ‘kinship’ and ‘religion’, rather than with ‘liberalism’ or ‘fascism’,” then the term is broad enough to encompass African nationalism too. 6 If there is a distinction to be made, then African nationalism’s divergence from 19 th century European nationalism can be explained as more of a temporal divergence than a uniquely African one. Larmer and Lecocq place African nationalism firmly back into the global context by declaring, “anti-colonialism is the dominant characteristic of nationalism on a global level in the modern era and African nationalism is therefore an entirely logical expression of the African

2 desire for sovereignty.” 7 In the aftermath of the two global wars, nationalist movements were inherently anti-colonial, which is true of Southeast Asia as much as it is of Africa. As such, the question of whether African nationalism significantly hastened decolonization when contemporary nationalism was based in anti-colonialism is more redundant and rhetorical as any effective strand of anti-colonial nationalism would hasten decolonization. African nationalism— and African anti-colonialism—fundamentally threatened European colonial control, and colonial administrators’ defensive responses to the burgeoning African national consciousness only amplified African nationalism, ultimately resulting in more African agency, political control, and decolonization. Although historians agree that nationalist movements in the wake of WWII were rooted in anti-colonialism, it is important to note that the reverse is not always true as this focuses solely on top-down nationalism and would negate the numerous worker, women, and peasant anti- colonial movements. 8 Though the nation-state is now the widely and socially accepted structure of political organization, not all anti-colonial movements wished to form a nation (or nation- state)—including some led by now-prominent nationalist figures. Kwame Nkrumah, the first African ruler of the first independent colony, Ghana, wished for the formation of a “United States of Africa” while Léopold Senghor, the first president of Senegal, “wished to transform French Empire, not escape it, to build a federation in which free citizens shared equal responsibilities.” 910 In part, colonial administrators’ responses nudged more local resistance towards larger anti-colonial nationalist movements, exposing where African anti-colonialism should be directed. As in Kenya, early nationalist movements were “not clear [on] whom one has to influence nor… which groups ought to lead the protest.” 11 It was from “the government’s vigorous reaction to these early protests [that] the colonial administrative structure stood

4 authorities helped blur distinctions between Kikuyu of diverse identities, transforming the scope and size of what was once a small peasant revolt. Though the Mau Mau were not directly able to form their own nation, there is some evidence to support that their actions (and British reactions) propelled the colony closer to independence. In attempts to end war with the Mau Mau (or at the very least, stemming from Mau Mau pressure), in 1954, the first African was appointed minister; three years later, the first African general election was held. In 1960, the emergency ended, and a London conference promised African rule, which was called “a victory for Mau Mau” by settler leader, Group- Captain Briggs. 19 Though some historians argue that the militant disorder caused by the Mau Mau impeded nationalism and decolonization (especially hopes of a multi-ethnic nationalism), it is more accurate to argue that the Mau Mau did advance nationalism and accelerate decolonization—just not in the way either party would have expected. 20 Kenyatta, Kenya’s leading nationalist figure, disparaged the Mau Mau, repeating the same British talking points, yet “it was the Emergency [declared because of the Mau Mau] which secured the victory of the very different nationalism of the multi-ethnic dominant class.” 21 Furthermore, Berman asserts that Kenyatta’s (wrongful) conviction and imprisonment for organizing the Mau Mau “saved his position as the national leader,” revealing that perhaps it was the Mau Mau’s failure that led to Kenya’s success as an independent nation. 22 Though not explicitly mentioned in the Kenyan context, the escalated intrusion of “modernizing” forces of the 19 th and 20 th century (capitalism, industrialization, urbanization) on African colonies played a major role in spurring anti-colonial nationalism and decolonization. It was the Copperbelt, where labor and race comingled, that served as “the origins of modern mass nationalism in Zambia.” 23 Heavy policing, a privileged European labor force, and the increased

5 contact between largely unskilled African laborers and European skilled laborers amplified both the friction between the two groups and African unity. 24 The spirit of white trade unionism encouraged Africans to unify as workers but rigidly enforced the color bar that placed African unskilled laborers at the lowest rung. 25 As such, African mineworkers formed their own union, under government with the abolition of the color bar as their principal aim. 26 Racial and socioeconomic disparities created by colonialism were exacerbated and exposed in urban areas where white and African laborers came to make a living. Henderson describes the Copperbelt towns as “a fissile mixture of poverty-stricken, unprivileged Africans, and a rich white elite operating a blatant colour bar.” 27 Dissatisfied with their working conditions and racial subjugation, the region would later become a stronghold for the United National Independence Party. 28 The “politicization of the territory” and “role of the Bemba-speaking peoples as the spearhead of protest” stemmed from the Copperbelt where “modernization” clashed with disparities rooted in the colonial age. 29 Far from being an odd and unique phenomenon, African nationalism—or more, anti- colonial nationalism—was a product of its time. In the wake of the second World War, Africans were unifying against socioeconomic and racial injustices brought upon by colonialism; as correcting these injustices could only transpire once Africans accumulate political control (or were decolonized), nationalism and anti-colonialism had to take one another’s forms. Africans increasingly began to “imagine a nation [as] a political community that by right should be politically sovereign and independent from rule by others,” and colonial backlash to their national consciousness and uprisings only bolstered their anti-colonial nationalism. 30 Transcending “traditional” kinship networks, African laborers, peasants, and eventually populaces formed more all-encompassing identities and claimed the right to dictate the course of

7 Notes

1 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (London, 1993): 6. 2 Hailey, William Malcolm, An African Survey: Revised 1956 (London, 1957). 3 Huxley, Elspeth, "Africa: A Giant Task," Sunday Times , November 24, 1957, 7. 4 Diedrich Westermann, "Cultural History of Negro Africa," Cahiers d'Histoire Mondiale , No. 4 (1957), 1003. 5 Anderson, Imagined Communities, 114. 6 Anderson, Imagined Communities , 5. 7 Larmer, Miles & Lecocq, Baz, “Historicising nationalism in Africa,” Nations and Nationalism 24.4 (2018), 895. 8 Schmidt, Elizabeth. "Top Down or Bottom Up? Nationalist Mobilization Reconsidered, with Special Reference to Guinea (French West Africa)." The American Historical Review 110, no. 4 (2005). 9 Cooper, Frederick, ‘Possibility and Constraint: African Independence in Historical Perspective’ , Journal of African History , 49/2 (2008), 174–5. 10 Allman, J., ‘Between the Present and History: African Nationalism and Decolonization’, in J. Parker and R. Reid (eds), Oxford Handbook of Modern African History (Oxford, 2013) 11 John Lonsdale. "The Emergence of African Nations: A Historiographical Analysis." African Affairs 67, no. 266 (1968): 19. 12 Lonsdale, “African Nations,” 20. 13 Lonsdale, “African Nations,” 23. 14 Berman, Bruce J. "Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Modernity: The Paradox of Mau Mau." Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines 25, no. 2 (1991): 183. 15 Berman, “Paradox of Mau Mau,” 189. 16 Berman, “Paradox of Mau Mau,” 189. 17 Lonsdale, John. "Mau Maus of the Mind: Making Mau Mau and Remaking Kenya." The Journal of African History 31, no. 3 (1990): 396. 18 Lonsdale, “Making Mau Mau,” 396. 19 Lonsdale, “Making Mau Mau,” 394. 20 Lonsdale, “Making Mau Mau,” 403. 21 Berman, “Paradox of Mau Mau,” 201. 22 Berman, “Paradox of Mau Mau,” 201. 23 Henderson, Ian. "The Origins of Nationalism in East and Central Africa: The Zambian Case." The Journal of African History 11, no. 4 (1970): 600. 24 Henderson, “Zambian Case,” 594-601. 25 Henderson, “Zambian Case,” 599. 26 Henderson, “Zambian Case,” 599. 27 Henderson, “Zambian Case,” 602. 28 Henderson, “Zambian Case,” 601. 29 Henderson, “Zambian Case,” 603. 30 Larmer & Lecocq, “Historicising nationalism,” 900.