Politicization of Ethnic Identities: The Case of Contemporary Africa

Abstract

Kenya is encountering many challenges. One of them includes the tendency of manipulating ethnic identities for private interest. We can grasp the root causes of the prevailing ethno-political violence insofar as we take seriously the following questions. How is ethnic identity related to the conflict of loyalties and interests? How have the dynamics of ethnic identities fashioned the existing understanding of the common good and political life? Have Christian churches managed to stand above ethnocentrism and the tension it generates? In search for long-term solutions to these questions this study shows how ill-founded methodologies tend to sideline equal citizenship among citizens in favor of the model of exclusion founded upon ethnocentrism. The challenge of integrating cultural identities in the processes of political integration and democratization is closely related to the problematic concepts of nation-state, citizenship, and common good.

Keywords

church ethnocentrism identity interest loyalty politics

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