Unfair Distribution of Resources in Africa: What Should Be Done about the Ethnicity Factor?

This paper depicts a common way African governments misuse resources: By letting ethnicities sway distribution decisions. Some analysts endorse accepting the situation as simply how Africans choose to govern themselves (Chabal & Daloz, 1999). However, interviews conducted in Kenya brought to light two popular -- & conflicting -- alternatives: either taking people's ethnic allegiances as is, & devising a federal state based on ethnic regions; or continuing to discourage ethnic identification with a view to promoting statewide unity. After posing the two views as a central dilemma, I will next ask whether more academic debate about pluralistic/multicultural societies debates fueled by Hannah Arendt, Iris Young, Justin Ekennia, & recent studies in social psychology -- can shed light on that dilemma. Finally, I will propose a solution that rejects ethnic federalism, encourages nonethnic political organizations, & tentatively endorses nonethnic federalism. 41 References. Adapted from the source document.