Understanding Modern Nigeria

Ethnicity, Democracy, and Development
Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-1-108-94763-3
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 500 Seiten, Format (B × H): 151 mm x 226 mm, Gewicht: 988 g

Since its independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria has emerged as Africa's second largest economy and one of the biggest producers of oil in the world. Despite its economic success, however, there are deep divisions among its two hundred and fifty ethnic groups. Centered around three of the dominant themes of Nigeria's post-colonial narrative - ethnicity, democracy and governance, this is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the history and events that have shaped these three areas. World-renowned expert in Nigerian history, Toyin Falola shows us how the British laid the foundations of modern Nigeria, with colonialism breading competition for resources and power and the widening cleavages between the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo ethnic groups that had been forced together under British rule, the choice of federalism as a political system, and the religious and political pluralism that have shaped its institutions and practices. Using an examination of the outcomes of this history, manifested in hunger, violence, poverty, human rights violations, threats of secession and corruption, where power and resources are used to reproduce underdevelopment, Falola offers insights and recommendations for the future of policy and the potential for intervention in the country.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Falola, Toyin (University of Texas, Austin)

Falola, Toyin

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Staats- und Regierungsformen, Staatslehre
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Postkoloniale Geschichte, Nationale Befreiung und Unabhängigkeit

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I. Introduction: 1. Narrating Postcolonial Nigeria; 2. In Search of Modernity; Part II. Context and History: 3. Colonial Modernity; 4. Political Pluralism; 5. Religious Identities; 6. Federalism and Its Fault-Lines; Part III. Democracy and Governance: 7. Ethnicities and Political Identities; 8. Religion and Geopolitics; 9. Democracy and Its Limits; 10. Governance, Citizenship and the State: Part IV. Development Crises: 11. Corruption; 12. The Political Economy of Oil; 13. Environment and Sustainable Development; 14. Food, Society, and Human Capabilities; 15. Women's Marginalization; 16. Human and Minority Rights; 17. Political Violence; 18. Challenges of Western Education; Part V: Reforms and Revolutions: 19. Change Agents: Youths and Politics; 20. Hashtags and Social Protests: Reformation and Revolution in the Age of Social Media; 21. Reformist Option: Grassroots and Political Activism; 22. Revolutionary Option: Social Movements and Power to the Citizens; 23. Nationalist Ethos, Collective Reformation, and Citizenry Power; 24. Popular Culture and Politics; Part VI. Conclusion: Pathways to the Future.

Über Autor(innen)

Falola, Toyin
Toyin Falola is Professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, at the University of Texas at Austin. He had served as the General Secretary of the Historical Society of Nigeria, the President of the African Studies Association, Vice-President of UNESCO Slave Route Project, and the Kluge Chair of the Countries of the South, Library of Congress. He is a member of the Scholars' Council, Kluge Center, the Library of Congress. He has received over thirty lifetime career awards and thirteen honorary doctorates. He has written extensively on Nigeria, including A History of Nigeria (2008), Nigerian Political Modernity (2016), Violence in Nigeria (1998), Colonialism and Violence in Nigeria (2009) and co-author of The Yoruba from Prehistory to the Present (2019). He is also the series co-editor for Cambridge University Press's series African Identities.