This paper provides an overview of this Special Issue celebrating the 40th anniversary of Ethnic and Racial Studies. We discuss some of the themes that are covered in this issue in the context of the wider history of the journal.
Afrophobia”? “Xenophobia”? “Black on black racism”? A “darker” as you can get hacking a “foreigner” under the pretext of his being too dark — self hate par excellence? Of course all of that at once! Yesterday I asked a taxi driver: “why do they need to kill these “foreigners” in this manner?”.
What is the problem of ethnicity in Africa? Is there indeed a problem of
ethnicity? Conventional wisdom suggests that ethnicity is phenomenally
problematic in Africa It is held partly responsible for the 'irrationalities' of the development project, for political instability and weak national identity.
The mandate of the Commission, on which I served, is to mediate ethnic- and race-related conflicts and promote peaceful and harmonious coexistence in Kenya.