Ethnic conflicts and hometown associations: an analysis of the experience of the Agila Development Association.

Part of a special section on conflict and conflict resolution in Africa. Drawing on land disputes between the Igbos and the Idomas of Nigeria, the writer demonstrates that ethnicity might not always be invoked when two or more ethnic groups are involved in a conflict and that the way in which confl...

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Published in:Africa Today Vol. 43; pp. 139 - 157
Main Author: Agbese, Pita Ogaba
Format: Article
Published: Indiana University Press April/June 1996
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Ethnic conflicts and hometown associations: an analysis of the experience of the Agila Development Association.
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        au: Agbese, Pita Ogaba
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        Ethnic relations
        Citizens' associations
        Land tenure
        Africa
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          Africa
          Ethnic relations
          Citizens' associations
          Land tenure
      keyword: Agila Development Association
      ab: Part of a special section on conflict and conflict resolution in Africa. Drawing on land disputes between the Igbos and the Idomas of Nigeria, the writer demonstrates that ethnicity might not always be invoked when two or more ethnic groups are involved in a conflict and that the way in which conflict between two groups is explained by the contesting groups represents a conscious political choice. He considers the case of the Agila Development Association (ADA), which rejected the ethnic label in a land dispute between the Igbos and the Idomas, in order to demonstrate that the ADA leaders deliberately chose to characterize the dispute in nonethnic terms so as to improve their probability of success over the Igbos. He argues that the type of identity invoked in a political struggle is a function of factors that include the issues involved, the audience to which the appeal is being made, the kind of organization leading the struggle, the likelihood of success, and the internal consensus within the organization engaged in the invocation.
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