Nations and Nationalism: Africa in Focus

Programma Bachelordeelproject PoWe

Vergelijkende Politiek

Blok 4, 2014-15.

Dinsdag 31 maart t/m 19 mei, 11.00-13.00 uur in 1B17 (5 mei geen les)
Donderdag 2 april t/m 21 mei, 11.00-13.00 uur in SA35 (14 mei geen les)

Dr. Jan Erk (erk@fsw.leidenuniv.nl)

Description:
The bachelor project group in Comparative Politics is devoted the theme of nations and nationalism this
year. The project starts by examining the emergence of nationalism as the dominant ideology on state
legitimacy in the 19th century both in domestic terms as the nation-state came to be seen as the
legitimate basis of political authority as well as international terms as nations-states came to replace
multination empires and other pre-modern political entities as the universally accepted legitimate unit of
world politics. The project examines nationalisms subsequent political impact that continues to this day.
In particular, we will examine to what extent existing nationalism theories help us with the analysis of
nations and nationalism in sub-Saharan Africa.
Following the general introduction, the bachelor project will examine in detail a number of
contemporary case-studies from Africa, and explore the enduring influence of nationalism on world
politics. Some of the themes covered in this context will be a) the historical legacies of pre-colonial,
colonial, and post-colonial times; b) tradition vs. modernity; c) the definition of who belongs (indigenous
vs. settler); d) the relationship between ethnicity and religion; e) land and territory as national attributes;
f) ethnic conflicts and civil war.
Those who have followed the third year courses nationalism and politiek van ontwikkelingslanden will
find some of the themes further explored in this bachelor project group. Students will be free to pursue
their own theoretical and methodological choices. Course readings will be distributed to bachelor project
participants; those who are contemplating this bachelor project are advised to browse through the
journals Nations and Nationalism and Nationalism and Ethnic Politics to get an idea about the various
scholarly debates within the field. Students are expected to write their bachelor projects in Dutch.
8,000 words (excluding attachments and references)

Literature review: due Monday March 30, 2015: erk@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

Students are expected to submit a 2,000 words literature review on five articles. Four are from Topic II
(Nations and Nationalism), and the fifth from Topic III, The Risks of Scholarly Insulation. Please try to
put together an overview of relevant themes and concepts you identify across the literature

I. Introduction:
(Tuesday, March 31, 11:00-13:00, 1B17)
Introduction, course contents, overview, discussion, paper topics.

II. Nations and Nationalism

(Thursday, April 2, 11:00-13:00, SA35)
Anthony Smith (2002), When is a Nation?, Geopolitics, Vol.7, No. 2, pp. 1-32.
Walker Connor (2004), The Timelessness of Nations, Nations and Nationalism, Vol.10, No , pp. 35-47.
Jan Erk (2010), Is Nationalism Left or Right?, Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 423-441.
Jan Erk (2014), From Nationalists to Internationalists and Back, Public Administration , Vol. 92, No. 2,
pp. 518-24.

III. Political Science and Studying the Developing World

(Tuesday, April 7, 11:00-13:00, 1B7)
Jan Erk (2014), Federalism and Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Five Patterns of Evolution,
Regional and Federal Studies, Vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 1-18.
Jan Erk and Wouter van Veenendaal (2014), Is Small Really Beautiful? The Small State Mistake, Journal
of Democracy, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 135-148.
Jan Erk (2013), The Risks of Scholarly Insulation: When Political Science Forgets Law and History,
Comparative European Politics, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 530-549.
Jan Erk (2014), African Numbers Held to Account, European Political Science, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2014.

IV. Pre-Colonial and Colonial Regimes

(Thursday, April 9, 11:00-13:00 SA35)
John Darwin (2010), Empire and Ethnicity, Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 383-401.
Michael Crowder (1964), Indirect Rule, French and British Styles, Africa, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 197-205.
Thomas Spear (2003), Neo-Traditionalism and the Limits of Invention in British Colonial Africa, The
Journal of African History, Vol. 44, No. 1 (2003), pp. 3-27.
Frederick Cooper (2010), Reconstructing Empire in British and French Africa, Past and Present,
supplement 6. pp. 196-210.

V. Post-Colonial Regimes
(Tuesday, April 14, 11:00-13:00, 1B17)
Pierre Englebert (2000), Pre-Colonial institutions, Post-Colonial States, and Economic Development in
Tropical Africa , Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 53 no. 1, pp. 7-36.
Olivier Walther (2012), Sons of the Soil and Conquerors Who Came on Foot: The Historical Evolution of
a West African Border Region, African Studies Quarterly, Volume 13, Issues 1 & 2, pp.
Lynn K. Mytelka (1974), A Genealogy of Francophone West and Equatorial African Regional
Organisations, The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 12, pp. 297-320
Donald Rothchild (1966), The Limits of Federalism: An Examination of Political Institutional Transfer in
Africa, The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 275-293.

VI. Nationalism: Who belongs?

(Thursday, April 16, 11:00-13:00, SA35)
Kevin C Dunn (2009) Sons of the Soil and Contemporary State Making: Autochthony, Uncertainty and
Political Violence in Africa, Third World Quarterly, 30:1, 113-127.
Peter Skalnik (1996), Power Authority versus Power: Democracy in Africa must include Original African
Institutions, Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, Vol. 28 , No. 37/38, pp.109-21
Peter Geschiere and Stephen Jackson (2006), Autochthony and the Crisis of Citizenship:
Democratization, Decentralization, and the Politics of Belonging, African Studies Review, Vol. 49, No. 2
(Sep., 2006), pp. 1-7.
Elliott Green (2007), Demography, Diversity and Nativism in Contemporary Africa: Evidence from
Uganda, Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 717-36.

VI. Nationalism Between the Traditional and the Modern

(Tuesday, April 21, 11:00-13:00 1B17)
Adem Kassie Abebe (2013), Umpiring Federalism in Africa: Institutional Mosaic and Institutions, African
Studies Quarterly, Vol.13, no.4, pp. 53-78.
Kwasi H. Prempeh (2007), Africas Constitutionalism Revival: False Start or New Dawn, International
Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol.5, No. 3, pp. 469-506.
Lungisile Ntseba (2004), Democratic Decentralisation and Traditional Authority: Dilemmas of Land
Administration in Rural South Africa, European Journal of Development Research, Vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 7189.
Christina Murray (2004), South Africas Troubled Royalty: Traditional Leaders after Democracy, Centre for
International and Public Law Faculty of Law, Australian National University.

VII. Land Claims, Non-Territorial Options

(Thursday, April 23, 11:00-13:00, SA35)
Catherine Boone (2003), Decentralization as Political Strategy in West Africa, Comparative Political
Studies, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 355-380.
Ibrahima Tour (2012), Autonomy and local democracy in Africa: an illustration using the case of
Senegal, International Review of the Administrative Sciences, Vol. 78, No. 4 , pp. 757-74.
John Coakley (1994), Approaches to the Resolution of Ethnic Conflict: The Strategy of Non-Territorial
Autonomy, International Political Science Review, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 297-314.
Jan Erk (2015 forthcoming), "Non-Territorial Millets and Territorial Jurisdiction in the Ottoman Empire,
in Tove Malloy and Francesco Palermo (eds), Minorities and Territory: rethinking Autonomy as Strategy,
Oxford: Oxford University Press

Individual meetings (by appointment) starting the week of 27 April 2015 in Room 5B41:
Tuesdays 11:00-13:00 (April 28, May 5, 12, 19, and 26).
Thursdays 11:00-13:00 (April 30, May 7, 14, and 23).

Bachelor Project Submission Deadlines:

First version, (hard-copy and electronically through Turnitin) Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 17:00 hrs
Discussion and feedback: Tuesday, May 26 and Wednesday, May 27
Final version, (hard-copy, pdf and electronically through Turnitin) Monday 8 June, 2015: 17:00 hrs
Discussion and feedback, Tuesday June 30, 2015.