through which politics must be carried on, is to present an explanation of
political crisis in terms that are not very meaningful. It is necessary to
analyse what lies behind ethnic unrest. Ethnicity cannot be regarded as a pri-
mordial ‘given’. It is subject to a range of economic and political forces such
as economic competition between regions, the manipulation of ethnic iden-
tity by ruling élites to divert attention from other forms of socio-economic
conflict, and the attraction of communalism in the absence of other effective
forms of political participation (Nafziger and Richter, 1976, p. 92). One
reason for turning to ethnically defined activism is despair at ever protecting
one’s interests through other forms of political association.
Furthermore, there is also evidence to support an interpretation of post-
colonial history which sees ethnicity as supporting national integration.
Wallerstein has argued that in West Africa ethnicity assists national integra-
tion in at least four ways. First, it provides the social support needed during
periods of social upheaval that cannot be provided by either the state or the
extended family. Secondly, ethnic groups aid the process of resocialization
during periods of rapid social change by providing opportunities for a range
of social and political contacts to be made. Thirdly, by offering opportuni-
ties for social mobility, ethnic groups help to prevent the formation of castes
and so assist in the maintenance of a fluid stratification system. Finally, they
are an important ‘outlet for political tensions’. Such potentialities have to be
recognized and set against the inevitably particularistic and separatist
potential of ethnic sentiment (Wallerstein, 1960).
Internal colonialism
As an explanation of why a minority group should feel compelled to seek
greater autonomy and even separation, the theory of internal colonialism
offers some interesting hypotheses. The concepts of uneven development
and internal colonialism were developed by Hechter with reference to the
UK, where it was used to explain Celtic nationalism. But it is a theory that
owes its origins to interpretations of Third World colonialism and depend-
ency. It would seem to have considerable resonance as an approach to terri-
torial economic and political differentiation in the post-colonial states of the
Third World and the consequent demands for autonomy on the part of the
groups experiencing discrimination and exploitation.
This thesis finds some plural societies divided into a ‘core’ community and
one or more peripheral communities, exploited by the core from a position of
primarily economic advantage. The economy of the periphery is usually
Nationalism and Secession 203