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About the author
Michael Amoah is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, The London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of Nationalism, Globalization and Africa; A Decade of Ghana and Reconstructing the Nation in Africa (I.B.Tauris).
Summary
The established theories and debates on nationalism were formed in the twin crucibles of Eighteenth-century Europe and America, and continue to be informed by that heritage. Reconstructing the Nation in Africa challenges some of the key principles that underlie the current debates on nationalism by exploring in depth the experience of multinational states in Africa.
Taking Ghana as a case study, Michael Amoah introduces and develops two important new contributions to the theoretical tapestry of nationalism --the Rationalisation of Nationalism and Reconstructing the Nation, concepts that should have wide use and currency in the broader discussion of the national phenomenon. Reconstructing the Nation in Africa argues that the nationhood of Ghana is not rooted in modernity as is generally thought, and attempts to show by analysis of the microbehavior of its population that traditional views on the viability of the multinational state do not necessarily hold true for modern-day Africa.
Additional text
Michael Amoah’s ‘Reconstructing the Nation in Africa: The Politics of Nationalism in Ghana’ is an important work on nationalism, ethnic groups, and the history and politics of nation building in Africa’s multinational states since independence. The book will be of tremendous value to scholars of African history and politics, as well as for informing development policies in multinational states such as Ghana. Students of Africana studies and international politics should also find this work to be of tremendous value.
