The role of ethnicity in multi‐party politics in Malawi and Zambia

Osei-Hwedie, Bertha Z.

doi:10.1080/02589009808729629

Cited by 27 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…These leaders represented the 5 faith-based organizations (FBOs) and were characterized by our Malawi consultants as being central or national religious leaders. The mean age of the primarily male (68%) participants was 44 years (range 26−74), and 7 of Malawi's 10 tribes (Osei-Hwedi, 1998) were represented. All leaders approached for the study agreed to participate.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Condom Divide: Disenfranchisement of Malawi Women by Church and State

Rankin¹,

Lindgren²,

Kools³

et al. 2008

Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing

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Objective-To examine the impact of two mitigating social institutions, religious organizations and the state, on Malawi women's vulnerability to HIV.Design-In-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 40 central leaders from 5 faith based organizations (FBOs) in Malawi were recorded and transcribed as part of an on-going larger study. Qualitative description was used to identify themes and categories.Setting-Primarily urban and peri-urban areas of south-central Malawi.Participants-A minimum of 6 leaders from each FBO were interviewed; the mean age of the primarily male (68%) participants was 44 years (range 26−74).Results-Analysis of religious leaders' messages about HIV produced an overarching theme, the condom divide, which conceptualized the divergence between FBOs and the state's prevention messages related to HIV prevention strategies.Conclusion-Faith based organizations have "demonized" state messages about condoms as promoting sin. The FBOs' insistence on abstinence and faithfulness leaves women with few options to protect themselves. As socially conscious citizens of the world, nurses can increase the responsiveness to the disparate levels of suffering and death in countries like Malawi. 2. The condom divide highlights the oppositional stances of the government and faith based organizations' messages about how to effectively prevent the spread of HIV.3. The plight of women in Malawi is complicated by the overwhelming poverty, regional migration, and global economic changes common across sub-Saharan Africa.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Condom Divide: Disenfranchisement of Malawi Women by Church and State

Rankin¹,

Lindgren²,

Kools³

et al. 2008

Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing

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show abstract

“… 46 Chirwa 1998; Dulani and Dionne 2014; Ejdemyr, Kramon, and Robinson Forthcoming; Ferree and Horowitz 2010; Forster 1994; Kaspin 1995; Osei-Hwedie 1998; Posner 2004; Robinson 2016a; Robinson 2016b; Vail and White 1991.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic Diversity, Segregation and Ethnocentric Trust in Africa

Robinson

2017

Brit. J. Polit. Sci.

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Ethnic diversity is generally associated with less social capital and lower levels of trust. However, most empirical evidence for this relationship is focused on generalized trust, rather than more theoretically appropriate measures of group-based trust. This article evaluates the relationship between ethnic diversity – at the national, regional and local levels – and the degree to which coethnics are trusted more than non-coethnics, a value referred to here as the ‘coethnic trust premium’. Using public opinion data from sixteen African countries, this study finds that citizens of ethnically diverse states express, on average, more ethnocentric trust. However, within countries, regional ethnic diversity is associated with less ethnocentric trust. This same negative pattern between diversity and ethnocentric trust appears across districts and enumeration areas within Malawi. The article then shows, consistent with these patterns, that diversity is only detrimental to intergroup trust at the national level when ethnic groups are spatially segregated. These results highlight the importance of the spatial distribution of ethnic groups on intergroup relations, and question the utility of micro-level studies of interethnic interactions for understanding macro-level group dynamics.

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“…Ethnicity has been important in political mobilization in Zambia and has shaped voting patterns since independence (Osei-Hwedi, 1998; Posner, 2005). At the center, political competition is primarily between four broad ethno-linguistic groups – Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga, and Lozi – but these are all composed of different ethnic groups.…”

Section: Zambia’s Authoritarian Legacy and Peaceful 1991 Electionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…MMD drew support from many different groups in society, including labor and business, and several top-level politicians left UNIP for MMD (Bratton, 1992: 92; Phiri, 2006: 167). The opposition was able to unite political leaders from all major ethnic groups, and the leaders refrained from appealing to ethnic and regional loyalties (Osei-Hwedi, 1998: 232).…”

Section: Zambia’s Authoritarian Legacy and Peaceful 1991 Electionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, inclusionary governance during single-party rule made interethnic relations less fragmented. This contributed to the opposition’s ability to form a broad-based coalition across ethnic divides, with leaders united in their interest in removing Kaunda from power, not an interest in placing their ethnic group in power (Osei-Hwedi, 1998: 232). In fact, 20 MMD candidates were ‘former or sitting UNIP MPs and 12 had been cabinet ministers or central committee members’ (Baylies & Szeftel, 1992: 83).…”

Section: Zambia’s Authoritarian Legacy and Peaceful 1991 Electionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electoral violence and the legacy of authoritarian rule in Kenya and Zambia

Brosché

Fjelde

Höglund

2019

Journal of Peace Research

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Why do the first multiparty elections after authoritarian rule turn violent in some countries but not in others? This article places legacies from the authoritarian past at the core of an explanation of when democratic openings become associated with electoral violence in multi-ethnic states, and complement existing research focused on the immediate conditions surrounding the elections. We argue that authoritarian rule characterized by more exclusionary multi-ethnic coalitions creates legacies that amplify the risk of violent elections during the shift to multiparty politics. Through competitive and fragmented interethnic relations, exclusionary systems foreclose the forging of cross-ethnic elite coalitions and make hostile narratives a powerful tool for political mobilization. By contrast, regimes with a broad-based ethnic support base cultivate inclusive inter-elite bargaining, enable cross-ethnic coalitions, and reduce incentives for hostile ethnic mobilization, which lower the risk of violent elections. We explore this argument by comparing founding elections in Zambia (1991), which were largely peaceful, and Kenya (1992), with large-scale state-instigated electoral violence along ethnic lines. The analysis suggests that the type of authoritarian rule created political legacies that underpinned political competition and mobilization during the first multiparty elections, and made violence a more viable electoral strategy in Kenya than in Zambia.

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The role of ethnicity in multi‐party politics in Malawi and Zambia

Cited by 27 publications

References 4 publications

The Condom Divide: Disenfranchisement of Malawi Women by Church and State

The Condom Divide: Disenfranchisement of Malawi Women by Church and State

Ethnic Diversity, Segregation and Ethnocentric Trust in Africa

Electoral violence and the legacy of authoritarian rule in Kenya and Zambia

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