Ethnic conflict in Africa: a short critical discussion

This paper critically discusses that 'ethnicity' is too elusive a concept to be unproblematically pronounced as a major source of conflict that significantly impediments the process of development in African countries in particular. It argues that there are many other factors to be considered in this regard, by: problematizing the drive for modernization and development in postcolonial Africa; identifying some of the perspectives according to which the inter-relationship between ethnicity, conflict and development has been theorized and discussed; assessing and problematizing the validity of these perspectives in reference to specific African countries. And this paper also contextualizes 'development', in terms of its starting-point, pace and trajectory, as well as critiques 'development' from a 'post-development' perspective.