Ethnic Cleansing in Africa: Territory, History, and Religion
This paper investigates the root causes of ethnic cleansing among African tribes, challenging the assumption that illiteracy is the primary driver of mass genocide. Drawing on scholarship by Mann, Shaw, Emenyonu, and others, the paper argues that territorial conflicts over natural resources, historical legacies of imperialism, and religious intolerance are the dominant forces behind ethnic cleansing in Africa. The role of democratization—and its potential to foster rather than prevent ethnic violence—is also examined. While literacy is acknowledged as a contributing factor, the paper concludes that no single cause accounts for mass genocide, and that meaningful prevention requires coordinated political, educational, and international efforts.
- Introduction: Thesis: illiteracy not primary cause of ethnic cleansing
- Ethnic Cleansing Overview: Scholarship linking genocide to political, territorial, religious forces
- Territorial Conflicts, History, and Religious Conflict: Imperial legacy and identity crises drive African ethnic violence
- Ethnic Cleansing and Literacy: The Counter-Argument: Literacy matters politically but remains a secondary factor
- Conclusions: Multi-factor solutions needed to reduce mass genocide
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper opens with a clear, falsifiable thesis — that illiteracy is not the primary cause of ethnic cleansing — and sustains that claim across all sections with consistent reference to source material.
- It engages fairly with the counter-argument, devoting an entire section to literacy's genuine (if secondary) role, which strengthens the overall argumentative credibility.
- Multiple regional African case studies (Darfur, Rwanda, the Congo, Zimbabwe, Nigeria) ground the theoretical claims in concrete historical examples.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective multi-source synthesis: rather than summarizing each scholar separately, it weaves Mann, Shaw, Chua, Emenyonu, and others into a cumulative argument. Each source is used to add a distinct layer — political instability, imperial legacy, resource scarcity, democratization risk — producing a nuanced causal account rather than a simple list of factors.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a five-part structure: an introductory framing of the thesis; a broad overview of ethnic cleansing scholarship; a focused examination of the three primary causes (territory, history, religion); a dedicated counter-argument section on literacy; and a conclusion that synthesizes proposed solutions. This structure allows the argument to build logically from the general to the specific before returning to the broader policy question.
Introduction
Can past and present campaigns for ethnic cleansing among some African tribes be attributed to illiteracy? While empirical evidence offers some support for the idea that illiteracy may contribute marginally to ethnic cleansing, it is not the primary impetus behind mass genocide. Research shows that campaigns for ethnic cleansing among certain African tribes cannot be entirely prevented through the eradication of illiteracy alone, because of territorial conflicts, historical grievances, and religious intolerance. Shaw (2003) notes that historically, territorial grievances and religious intolerance are among the top reasons for ethnic cleansing throughout the world. Consider the case of Hitler, where mass ethnic cleansing reached its peak primarily for reasons of religious intolerance, with secondary factors including history and territorial imperialism. It is critical to gather qualitative evidence supporting this theory in order to attempt to salvage what little hope remains for African nations that still struggle under the threat of extinction due to political regimes intent on annihilating entire peoples.
This paper examines the causes of such cleansing — or "extinction" — in greater detail, with particular emphasis on territory, history, and religion, in order to provide historical context for ethnic cleansing in Africa and among African tribes. An overview of ethnic cleansing, a synopsis of the problem, and a conclusion are provided.
References
Abdul-Jalil, M. A. (2006). The dynamics of customary land tenure and natural resource management in Darfur. Land Reform, 2, 9–23. FAO.
Chua, A. (2004). World on fire: How exporting free market democracy breeds ethnic hatred and global instability. New York: Anchor Books.
Delanty, Gerard, & Kumar, Krishan. (2006). The SAGE handbook of nations and nationalism. SAGE.
Emenyonu, E. (2008). War in African literature today. Boydell & Brewer Ltd.
Hodgson, Dorothy L. (2002, December). Introduction: Comparative perspectives on the indigenous rights movement in Africa and the Americas. American Anthropologist, 104(4), 1037–1049.
Mann, Michael. (2005). The dark side of democracy. Cambridge University Press.
Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges. (2004). Citizenship, political violence, and democratization in Africa. Global Governance, 10, 403–409.
Olsson, Ola, & Siba, Eyerusalem. (2010, October). Ethnic cleansing or resource struggle in Darfur? An empirical analysis. University of Gothenburg.
Sambanis, Nicholas. (2000, July). Ethnic war and empirical critique of the theoretical literature. World Politics, 52, 437–483.
Shaw, M. (2003). War and genocide. Cambridge: Polity Press.
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