Ethnic identity in a 'Homogeneous' Nation State

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dc.contributor.advisorMattes, Roberten_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBoikhutso, Keeneen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-09-30T13:36:35Z
dc.date.available2014-09-30T13:36:35Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis thesis adopts a two thronged approach to explore the two components of the common wisdom in Botswana. Firstly, it tests the claim by the common wisdom that Botswana is inherently homogeneous. That 90% of the population either speaks Setswana or belongs to Setswana speaking tribes. Secondly, it tests the fact that this perceived homogeneity connect to the countryâs democratic, economic and political success. The study uses existing Afrobarometer survey data drawn from Rounds 1 (1999), 2 (2003) and 3 (2005) Afrobarometer survey data to test both claims about Botswanaâs homogeneity thesis. The findings of this study reveal that the first part of the common wisdom is confirmed especially when using language âspoken most at home.âHowever, it is disconfirmed when using âhome language.â It is also shown that when using tribe (a putatively objective) and social identity (a more subjective) dimension of ethnicity, the level of ethnic diversity in Botswana is much higher than the common wisdom suggests. This is more apparent when language and tribe are broken down according to district and rural-urban location. It seems that minority groups are distributed across and also concentrated in certain parts of the country. With regard to the second part of the common wisdom, the results point out that difference in language, tribe and social identity exist. However, these are not politicized and not aligned with key political factors of national identity, interpersonal trust, political participation, voting and government legitimacy. There are no important politically relevant cleavages structures in Botswana. This study concludes by proposing that, it may be this lack of politicization of identity, rather than the putative homogeneity of the country, that accounts for Botswanaâs record of development and democracy.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationBoikhutso, K. (2009). <i>Ethnic identity in a 'Homogeneous' Nation State</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7768en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationBoikhutso, Keene. <i>"Ethnic identity in a 'Homogeneous' Nation State."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7768en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBoikhutso, K. 2009. Ethnic identity in a 'Homogeneous' Nation State. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Boikhutso, Keene AB - This thesis adopts a two thronged approach to explore the two components of the common wisdom in Botswana. Firstly, it tests the claim by the common wisdom that Botswana is inherently homogeneous. That 90% of the population either speaks Setswana or belongs to Setswana speaking tribes. Secondly, it tests the fact that this perceived homogeneity connect to the country&amp;amp;amp;acirc;s democratic, economic and political success. The study uses existing Afrobarometer survey data drawn from Rounds 1 (1999), 2 (2003) and 3 (2005) Afrobarometer survey data to test both claims about Botswana&amp;amp;amp;acirc;s homogeneity thesis. The findings of this study reveal that the first part of the common wisdom is confirmed especially when using language &amp;amp;amp;acirc;spoken most at home.&amp;amp;amp;acirc;However, it is disconfirmed when using &amp;amp;amp;acirc;home language.&amp;amp;amp;acirc; It is also shown that when using tribe (a putatively objective) and social identity (a more subjective) dimension of ethnicity, the level of ethnic diversity in Botswana is much higher than the common wisdom suggests. This is more apparent when language and tribe are broken down according to district and rural-urban location. It seems that minority groups are distributed across and also concentrated in certain parts of the country. With regard to the second part of the common wisdom, the results point out that difference in language, tribe and social identity exist. However, these are not politicized and not aligned with key political factors of national identity, interpersonal trust, political participation, voting and government legitimacy. There are no important politically relevant cleavages structures in Botswana. This study concludes by proposing that, it may be this lack of politicization of identity, rather than the putative homogeneity of the country, that accounts for Botswana&amp;amp;amp;acirc;s record of development and democracy. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - Ethnic identity in a 'Homogeneous' Nation State TI - Ethnic identity in a 'Homogeneous' Nation State UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7768 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/7768
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationBoikhutso K. Ethnic identity in a 'Homogeneous' Nation State. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2009 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7768en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Political Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPolitical Studiesen_ZA
dc.titleEthnic identity in a 'Homogeneous' Nation Stateen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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