The Colonial Legacy Ethnicity and Colonial Rule in Senegal, Rwanda, and Nigeria

Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hicks, Barbara

Keywords

Ethnicity, Nationalism, African Studies

Area of Concentration

Anthropology

Abstract

This thesis looks at the effects of political structures on the formation of ethnic identities in colonial Senegal, Nigeria, and Rwanda. Comparing the policies and political institutions of three colonial powers-- France, Britain, and Belgium-- I look at the influence of the colonial power on the formation of the colonial regime. I continue on to examine how each colonial regime altered existing or even created new ethnic identities. These identities, which were forced into competition with each other during the colonial period, were, in some cases, mobilized by political actors during decolonization, contributing to the various ethnic conflicts that have plagued much of the continent since the end of the colonial era. Although ethnic conflict is not the focus of this thesis, the historical identities that many of these conflicts have been rooted in are thoroughly explored.

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