>
>
>> >
>> > Tribalism, Colonialism and Capitalism
>> >
>> > The festering of tribalist, nationalist and racist sentiment
>> > are nurtured and sustained by the capitalist system
>> >
>> > By Adongo Aidan Avugma
>> >
>> > Within the context of neo-colonial statehood, tribalism is a
>> > colonial derivative based on matriarchal or patriarchal
>> > relations forged in the distant past and used by an ethnic
>> > group as a defensive and an offensive weapon against other
>> > groups. The position of some of those who see tribalism as
>> > the main cause of Africa's present social and economic
>> > predicament follows a familiar pattern of thinking. The
>> > colonialists, according to them, tried to make a
>> > nation-state out of a hotch-potch of antagonistic and
>> > uncivilised African peoples but failed in their pious
>> > mission. The various tribes had age-long hatred for one
>> > another and as soon as the colonial power went the natives
>> > descended into barbarism maiming and killing each other.
>> >
>> > Nationalists in Africa see the matter differently, painting
>> > idyllic pictures of the African past and blaming all the
>> > tribal conflicts that have erupted after independence solely
>> > on colonialism. This viewpoint is as historically incorrect
>> > as it is undialectical. Facts abound on how the internal
>> > evolution of some African communities before colonialism and
>> > mercantile capitalism had provided groups of people the
>> > opportunity to appropriate the labour of others, accumulate
>> > economic surplus and consequently subjugate other
>> > communities. This is a scenario that must have generated a
>> > certain level of tribal animosity and discrimination based
>> > on economic exploitation and wealth, even if this was on a
>> > minor scale compared with the situation in colonial times
>> > and the post-independence era. It was these differences that
>> > were deliberately and carefully nurtured by the
>> > colonialists, and later exploited by the neo-colonial
>> > bourgeoisie after independence to keep the people manacled
>> > to the capitalist system.
>> >
>> >
>> > In colonial times
>> >
>> > Colonialism whether it was of the British, Belgian, French
>> > or German variety was not meant to be a benign enterprise.
>> > The motive behind its establishment was one: the
>> > exploitation of labour and the accumulation of economic
>> > surplus. Consequently, the driving force behind it,
>> > capitalism, did not spare the exploitation of labour in both
>> > the metropolis and other lands even if it meant spilling
>> > blood to fulfil this sordid agenda.
>> >
>> > This mercenary impulse had implied increased production,
>> > technological expansion, the growth of the external and
>> > domestic market and ultimately the annexation and political
>> > control of other territories. Tribal groups which stood in
>> > the way were, in colonial parlance, pacified. But if, as
>> > suggested in some quarters, the colonial enterprise had
>> > meant to pacify and carve out viable nation-states capable
>> > of competing with metropolitan capitalism, the monopolistic
>> > tendency and vampire essence of the profit system would have
>> > been still-born. Far from creating problems for itself, its
>> > policy towards the people of the colonies was guided by the
>> > trinitarian doctrine -- atomisation, exploitation and
>> > domination. This unfolded in its pattern of social and
>> > economic investment in what came to be known as Ghana and
>> > before that as the Gold Coast.
>> >
>> > British colonial policy encouraged investments in only those
>> > areas of the colony which were endowed with mineral and
>> > forest resources. This pattern of investment engendered
>> > considerable regional variations in terms of the provision
>> > of roads, railway lines and social services. Thus the
>> > Southern Sector which by virtue of its location abounded in
>> > timber, gold and fertile soil benefited far more in terms of
>> > infrastructural development than the Northern territories
>> > which did not have any known mineral resources. But even in
>> > the Southern part of the colony there was discrimination in
>> > the provision of amenities on the basis of the contribution
>> > to the exportable surplus. The pattern of investment that
>> > characterised British economic policy was not born out of
>> > any preference for the Asante over the Dagarti, but based on
>> > cold capitalist reasoning. After all, some minimum
>> > maintenance of workers' health and education was a
>> > reasonable investment since it ensured the maximisation of
>> > the extraction of surplus from the worker; and the greedy
>> > capitalists by their calculations knew this too well.
>> >
>> > How did this promote tribalism? By annexing the Gold Coast
>> > and putting the people in a subordinate status, the British
>> > colonial power froze any further evolution and consolidation
>> > of a national identity. For example, it destroyed the
>> > principal catalyst for achieving the unity of fragmented
>> > loyalties. Not only did colonialism deprive states like
>> > Benin, Oyo and Asante of all their principal vassals and
>> > tributary states, but it followed up the process of
>> > fragmentation by smashing the basis of the hegemonic power
>> > of these states thus giving full rein to all manner of
>> > divisive tendencies.
>> >
>> > While pretending to be carrying out a mission of uniting the
>> > incorrigibly warring tribes British colonial policy
>> > consciously and systematically separated the various people,
>> > creating conflict and ill-will among them. The colonial
>> > government sometimes saw the value of stimulating tribal
>> > jealousies so as to keep the colonised from dealing with
>> > their principal opposition -- the colonial and the emergent
>> > African bourgeoisie who together were milking the people.
>> >
>> > By categorising the various linguistic subgroups in the Gold
>> > Coast -- Frafra, Dagarti, Ninkarsi Kusaasi, Dagomba, Akyim,
>> > Asante and Fanti -- as tribes the colonial regime began to
>> > nurture parochial and exclusivist consciousness among people
>> > who previously had regarded themselves as one. All official
>> > documents in colonial times, for example, required
>> > information on the place of origin and ethnic background of
>> > the individual. Names were thus suffixed with one's tribal
>> > background and area of origin. Feeling regarded as a member
>> > of an ethnic group by others and that they would behave
>> > towards you accordingly, individuals began to feel the need
>> > to identify more closely with their "kith and kin" and to
>> > promote its interest relative to others.
>> >
>> > Racist colonial ideology ignored the fact that the people of
>> > the Gold Coast shared a common heritage of colonial
>> > oppression and colonially-induced capitalist exploitation
>> > with its concomitant ills: poverty, ignorance, disease and
>> > malnutrition. As a result, its philosophy of determining the
>> > inferiority or superiority of a people in terms of the
>> > extent to which they had culturally imbibed all what the
>> > colonial establishment represented came to dominate the
>> > worldview of some Africans.
>> >
>> > Colonial ideology and culture operated on the basis of a
>> > hierarchy of cultures in which that of the metropolitan
>> > bourgeoisie was supposed to be supreme. The culture of the
>> > country of origin of the metropolitan bourgeoisie therefore
>> > became the standard by which a people's level of
>> > primitiveness or barbarism was determined. The more your
>> > thinking, values and mannerisms were close to the
>> > colonialists' the more human you were; and by implication
>> > the further your behaviour and outlook were from the
>> > masters' the less human you were. This explained why the
>> > rich and educated elite who were products of the colonial
>> > educational system did not answer questions in their African
>> > dialect but in English. They talked about the opera which
>> > they had never seen except from a distance, referred to
>> > winter and Buckingham Palace and, above all, adopted a
>> > critical attitude towards other Africans who they
>> > derogatively referred to as "bush people".
>> >
>> > But the idea of trying to approximate to the coloniser was
>> > not only to be found in the relations between the African
>> > and the European coloniser. Sometimes Africans tried to
>> > approximate their status to other Africans if they thought
>> > those individuals enjoyed a higher status. African ethnic
>> > groups which had a high number of educated and rich people
>> > within them as a result of their long contact with the
>> > coloniser tended to feel superior to others. Even if they
>> > were poor and illiterate they identified psychologically
>> > with those in their tribal group who were rich and educated.
>> > It did not matter to the poor Asante, Frafra or Ewe person
>> > if all of them were victims of crude exploitation by
>> > colonialism and the African bourgeoisie. In their minds, the
>> > identification with the tribal big boss and the fact that
>> > they came from the same ethnic background was enough, even
>> > if it did not ensure the enjoyment of a spoon of marmalade
>> > from the master's table. These exclusivist and warped
>> > thinking explained why a poor Asante for example could feel
>> > deeply offended if he was mistaken for a Busanga or any
>> > other tribe. This not only lead to more barriers between the
>> > ethnic groups but effectively undermined their capacity to
>> > confront capitalist exploitation. The inter-ethnic struggle
>> > for superiority or at least to avoid the stigma of
>> > inferiority dissipated the energies of the people.
>> >
>> >
>> > Tribalism today
>> >
>> > The African bourgeoisie which assumed the mantle of power
>> > after colonial rule also did not fail to realise the
>> > usefulness of tribalism in the struggle against the African
>> > masses. Like racial violence in Europe, tribalism was a
>> > means to an end: deflecting the anger of the masses from the
>> > neo-colonial bourgeoisie and directing it at other members
>> > of the working class. In another sense it was the most
>> > convenient cover for the capitalist robbers who stole
>> > economic surplus from the working class and poor peasants.
>> > The attitude of the African bourgeoisie towards the colonial
>> > state that it inherited, therefore, was not that of
>> > dismantling and radically transforming the exploitative
>> > relations of production. It was guided by the desire to
>> > inherit the colonial state-machine and seek accommodation
>> > with international capital in the extraction of economic
>> > surplus from the working people. Consequently,
>> > post-independence politics in Africa has witnessed the
>> > arousal and manipulation of tribal passions and petty
>> > differences among ethnic groups, for the same sordid reasons
>> > that the bourgeoisie in Europe sometimes find convenient it
>> > to use racism.
>> >
>> > The predatory character of capitalism coupled with the
>> > hollowness and hypocrisy of the African bourgeoisie created
>> > fertile conditions for the festering of this cancerous
>> > disposition. Slogans, values and the moral high ground
>> > postured by the bourgeoisie as events unfolded long after
>> > independence have been blatantly self-serving. As for their
>> > masters abroad, the state machinery has now become an
>> > important instrument in their quest for capital accumulation
>> > at the expense of the masses, whom they claim in political
>> > party campaigns to be liberating from poverty, disease, etc.
>> > However, given the peculiar historical and economic
>> > circumstances in which it has had to evolve it is not an
>> > exact carbon copy of its masters abroad.
>> >
>> > The African bourgeoisie is more desirous of imbibing the
>> > lifestyles and privileges of its overlords in Europe and
>> > America than showing the creative and strong interest in
>> > production that marked the genesis of the bourgeoisie in
>> > Europe. Its extravagance and neo-colonial conditions have
>> > been at the core of the steep declines of production levels
>> > in recent times, leading to shocking levels of destitution
>> > and poverty. But it is precisely these conditions of want
>> > that the bourgeoisie has shamelessly manipulated to scuttle
>> > the unity of the dispossessed in the towns using tribalism
>> > as a tool.
>> >
>> > Cruel economic conditions have forced many residents in
>> > poverty-stricken suburbs to seek help and protection by
>> > means of a network of social obligations, transferring some
>> > of their traditional feudal loyalties and institutions to
>> > the urban environment. Most ethnic groups in Accra, Kumasi
>> > and Sekondi-Takordi have installed chiefs to whom they pay
>> > allegiance and seek protection. Tribal associations have
>> > also been formed to advance the cause of particular ethnic
>> > groups and used as sources of benefit: help in finding a
>> > job, accommodation, money and credit. People also stick
>> > together to make common cause against other tribal groups in
>> > the struggle for economic survival in the dog-eat-dog
>> > environment that has been created by capitalism.
>> >
>> > It is these tribal associations that provide arenas for the
>> > various factions of the bourgeoisie to launch offensives and
>> > counter-offensives against each other in their struggle for
>> > political and economic power. Events in the run-up to this
>> > month's presidential election in Ghana provide ample
>> > testimony of this, as many of such groups with the backing
>> > of the bourgeoisie have sprung up, all seeking to advance
>> > the interest of the bourgeoisie in the various ethnic
>> > groups. They have organised and whipped up the sentiments of
>> > the lower strata of their tribespeople against rivals
>> > belonging to different ethnic groups. They have created the
>> > impression that it is only when one of your tribesmen is at
>> > the helm of affairs that you can have a fair share of
>> > national development and individual personal advancement.
>> > Consequently, where a presidential or vice-presidential
>> > candidate comes from has become extremely important.
>> >
>> > But as it has always been the case after every election, and
>> > will surely be the case after this month's elections, that
>> > those factions that win the election will easily forget
>> > about the ethnic support base they so subtly manipulated to
>> > propel themselves to power. They will shun the company of
>> > their poor tribespeople who supported them and will
>> > fraternise closely with their allies in other ethnic groups.
>> > The rancour and bitterness that characterised their
>> > relations will soon be forgotten, except on political party
>> > platforms. They will play tennis, billiards and golf
>> > together and discuss lucrative business contracts in posh
>> > hotels. As for their indigent brethren who had worked
>> > tirelessly to put them in power, they will have to start
>> > thinking seriously about how to pay school fees, feed the
>> > family, and get good accommodation.
>> >
>> > The festering of tribalist, nationalist and racist sentiment
>> > are nurtured and sustained by the capitalist system of
>> > production which produces only for profits and not for
>> > needs. The abolition of the profit system and its
>> > replacement with socialism based on the common ownership and
>> > democratic control of the means and instruments for
>> > production and distribution would put an end to
>> > discrimination and bigotry. But this cannot happen unless
>> > people understand and see the need for this kind of change.
>> > More than ever before, the formation of socialist parties in
>> > Africa to take up the task of spreading the socialist
>> > message has become urgent.
>> >
>> > Copyleft (c) 2000-2001 Socialist Party of Great Britain.
>> > Redistribute Freely.

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