Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/29916
Title: Prospects for Linguistic and Cultural Diversity to Enhance African Political Governance
Contributor(s): Ndhlovu, Finex  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-40134-4_9
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/29916
Abstract: This chapter seeks to contribute some new ideas on how Africa's rich and diverse linguistic heritage could potentially be leveraged towards developing an innovative framework for political governance and greater pan-African understanding. I posit that unless languages are mobilized negatively and manipulated instrumentally to cause divisions in Africa, they remain a rich resource that can facilitate the task of fashioning a sense of common African identity and citizenship. The chapter argues that instead of focusing on the 'problems' of language diversity, we need to pay attention to the prospects, and spheres of possibilities for good political governance presented by the language resources at our disposal. This means we need to work within a framework that can harness inter- and cross-cultural similarities among the African people within and across different national borders in order to maximize the potential benefits of Africa's linguistic resources, especially in the domains of regional economic integration, cross-border trade and political integration. What affordances do Africa's cultural and linguistic resources provide for creativity and innovation in our quest for good and inclusive political governance systems? What would Africa's political governance systems look like if we were to recognize the diversity of African languages as an opportunity and not a liability?
Publication Type: Book Chapter
Source of Publication: Governance and Societal Adaptation in Fragile States, p. 211-236
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Place of Publication: Cham, Switzerland
ISBN: 9783030401344
9783030401337
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 200405 Language in Culture and Society (Sociolinguistics)
200209 Multicultural, Intercultural and Cross-cultural Studies
200403 Discourse and Pragmatics
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 470411 Sociolinguistics
470212 Multicultural, intercultural and cross-cultural studies
470405 Discourse and pragmatics
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 970120 Expanding Knowledge in Language, Communication and Culture
950201 Communication Across Languages and Culture
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280114 Expanding knowledge in Indigenous studies
280116 Expanding knowledge in language, communication and culture
130201 Communication across languages and culture
HERDC Category Description: B1 Chapter in a Scholarly Book
Series Name: Governance and Limited Statehood
Editor: Editor(s): John Idriss Lahai and Helen Ware
Appears in Collections:Book Chapter
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

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