Unity vs. Atomism in Africa
GRUNDY, KENNETH W.
Unity vs. Atomism in Africa East african unity through law By Thomas M. Franck Yale University Press. 184 pp. $5.50. Political awakening in the belgian congo By Rene Lemarchand University of...
...In fact, they have been in competition throughout the history of all political affairs, intrastate as well as inter-state...
...It can only be operative as long as a measure of political community serves as a foundation...
...As Franck so sensibly points out, matters of public health, electricity and transport are of great political significance...
...Unless this dismantling process can be reversed or at least arrested, it would make subsequent federation extremely difficult...
...But closer examination reveals that both are concerned with the struggle to create and maintain political unity where a recognizable community of interests cannot easily be discerned...
...It can never serve as a substitute for political integration (be it confederal, federal or unitary...
...These two impulses run like two themes in counterpoint...
...7.95...
...The slightest unrest may bring the structure down...
...Functional cooperation is, at best, a step in the right direction...
...For instance, the once similar legal systems so carefully nurtured by the British are being adjusted and adapted to meet the demands of the indigenous African governments...
...On a narrower plane this can be seen in the tribalism and ethnic divisiveness plaguing the emergent nations of Africa and Asia...
...The fact that one situation involves a single fragmented state, and the other involves four separate entities groping for a larger area of cooperation, should not conceal essentially related political problems...
...The third alternative Lemarchand envisions is a concerted effort by Congolese leaders to reconstruct a broad nationalist front "bearing the posthumous stamp of Lumumba's ideals and personality...
...the ethnic or racially exclusive pan-Germanic or pan-African movements seeking to transcend state boundaries...
...To expect African peoples somehow or other a priori to possess these qualities, or to acquire them with little or no effort or difficulty, is less than reasonable...
...Consequently, Congolese politics is basically ethnic or tribal politics, and chaos the emergent pattern...
...At the national level the desire to forge integrated national state communities out of otherwise heterogeneous peoples (such as modern Indian or Nigerian nationalism) could be regarded as a reflection of the impulse toward unity and integration...
...East African Unity through Law is a scholarly analysis of the possibilities and obstacles in maintaining and increasing the unity which the British fostered prior to the independence of Tanganyika, Uganda, Zanzibar and Kenya...
...Unity, to Thomas Franck, means functional cooperation, not political unity...
...the pragmatic universalism of the Roman Empire and the movements to establish a viable international organization within the framework of the nation-state system...
...On the one hand, there has been a recurrent tendency toward the creation of larger and larger political entities...
...This, in essence, is what has occurred since independence was achieved there...
...Unfortunately, the degree of cooperation existing today in the region is far too fragile for us to conclude that functional cooperation can ultimately cement these diverse peoples together...
...Since independence political parties (few of which have cross-tribal bases) have declined in importance, to be replaced by bureaucratic politics based on tribal and personal conflicts, each feeding on the other...
...But always it reappears, comes to life, and makes its impact on our lives...
...Political awakening in the belgian congo By Rene Lemarchand University of California Press...
...On the other hand, there has been no less persistent impulse toward international atomism and state fragmentation, witness the Greek city-states, the feudal principalities, and the modern nation-state system...
...The processes of "nation-building"— the creation and encouragement of national integration and consciousness in each of the four constituent parts—are posing problems for regional unity and functional cooperation across state boundaries...
...Thus, his basic assumption is that unity in East Africa is a fact, a fleeting fact, but a fact nonetheless...
...The Congo is really a polyglot state of diverse peoples...
...The same fragmentation is occurring with regard to other areas of similarity and cooperation...
...They do not exist in a vacuum...
...His style is less than scintillating, yet proper treatment of the subject demands his genuinely detached and comprehensive coverage...
...One treats the frustrating efforts toward inter-state unity among four East African territories...
...Rene Lemarchand's study covers the politics of the Belgian Congo (internal Belgian and expatriate European as well as Congolese) until the secession of Katanga just 11 days after independence...
...Nevertheless, it is apparent that he is not unaware of the full scope of the problems at hand...
...In inter-state affairs this might be described as the impulse to universalism and expansionism...
...To think otherwise would be to ignore the most fundamental factor in any arrangement leading to greater unity...
...Belgian colonial policies made practically no attempt (except for some last-minute gestures) to shape one nation out of the territory...
...If there is a lesson emerging from these two excellent studies, it is that political unity is difficult without the subjective consciousness of community and the objective conditions which facilitate cooperation...
...Lemarchand has written a provocative and keenly perceptive volume...
...For the first he cites Immanuel Wallerstein's comments in these pages ("Congo Confederation," NL, March 27, 1961): "Lacking a strong party on the Tunisia-Guinea model, the Congo will see semi-anarchy and stagnation and may begin to turn to an organized peasant Communist movement as its only long-term nationalist solution...
...The other examines the genesis of the fragmentation and instability of the Congo...
...Viewed in this frame of reference, the events of 1964-1965 seem ominous...
...Movements in this direction have been manifest in a variety of forms...
...With the reintroduction of Moise Tshombe into central government affairs, the likelihood of either of the first two alternatives seems enhanced...
...What is unforgivable is that the Belgians never really tried to assist them...
...Franck's legalistic treatment (doubtless the result of the study's sponsorship by the American Society of International Law) on occasion appears to ignore the basic political issues...
...One is left with the impression that it is a wonder the Congo has held together as well as it has...
...Sometimes one may appear to be in eclipse...
...And it is not unreasonable to conclude from the evidence he presents that post-independence fragmentation stems directly from an unfortunate combination of pre-colonial tribal antagonisms, exacerbated by Belgian colonial policies and geographical vastness...
...Rather, they have sought to maximize their own personal gains and those of their particular ethnic or tribal groups within the new state...
...In domestic affairs it could be called the tendency toward unity and integration...
...The second alternative lies in the possibility of a military coup d'etat, not out of the question in view of the earlier record of the force publique...
...Increasing ideological diversity in each state will complicate future combinatory schemes even more...
...The Congolese peoples never outgrew their pre-Belgian diversity...
...We know from European experience that these conditions can be produced with time, indeed they can even be imposed through the years...
...The author sees three possible alternative patterns for the Congo...
...The first is a resort to Communism...
...Among them are the messianic universalism of the Islamic jihads and the secular universalism of international Communism...
...357 pp...
...At first one, then the other is dominant...
...At a glance the two volumes considered here appear to have little more in common than the fact that both deal with African affairs...
...Reviewed by Kenneth w. grundy Department of Political Science, San Fernando Valley State College Two incompatible impulses have been in constant competition throughout the history of international relations...
...To add to the difficulties, the Congolese leaders themselves, with very few exceptions, have made no real contribution to hammering together a Congolese nation...
Vol. 48 • May 1965 • No. 11
