Nowhere to Run: A Review of the Political Economy of Migration, Identity and Xenophobic Violence in Zambia

Zambia is one of the Southern African countries that have not witnessed any serious bloody conflicts either in their post-independence eras or the periods hitherto. Consequently, the country has, over the years, provided refuge to many victims of ethnic and racial conflicts from other African count...

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Main Authors: Phineas Bbaala, Njekwa Mate
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Western Cape 2021-04-01
Series:African Human Mobility Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://epubs.ac.za/index.php/ahmr/article/view/775
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author Phineas Bbaala
Njekwa Mate
author_facet Phineas Bbaala
Njekwa Mate
author_sort Phineas Bbaala
collection DOAJ
description Zambia is one of the Southern African countries that have not witnessed any serious bloody conflicts either in their post-independence eras or the periods hitherto. Consequently, the country has, over the years, provided refuge to many victims of ethnic and racial conflicts from other African countries, especially within the Sub-Saharan African region. However, Zambia faces the daunting challenge of sustaining interregional, interethnic and interracial harmony among its own indigenous groups and those identified as foreign immigrants. The April 2016 xenophobic looting of shops belonging to other African nationals by residents of Lusaka highlighted the intensification of ethnic and racial conflict in the country. Amid these identity conflicts, some commentators from different intellectual and other persuasions have tried to explain ethnic and racial identity problems in relation to primordial, constructive and instrumental theoretical underpinnings. This article goes further to draw a relationship between economic downturn and identity and xenophobic violence. The article draws arguments from a review of existing literature and empirical data.
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spelling doaj.art-e82e814044484f858150bf7753d064912022-12-22T00:32:08ZengUniversity of the Western CapeAfrican Human Mobility Review2411-69552410-79722021-04-012310.14426/ahmr.v2i3.775Nowhere to Run: A Review of the Political Economy of Migration, Identity and Xenophobic Violence in ZambiaPhineas Bbaala0Njekwa Mate1University of ZambiaUniversity of Zambia Zambia is one of the Southern African countries that have not witnessed any serious bloody conflicts either in their post-independence eras or the periods hitherto. Consequently, the country has, over the years, provided refuge to many victims of ethnic and racial conflicts from other African countries, especially within the Sub-Saharan African region. However, Zambia faces the daunting challenge of sustaining interregional, interethnic and interracial harmony among its own indigenous groups and those identified as foreign immigrants. The April 2016 xenophobic looting of shops belonging to other African nationals by residents of Lusaka highlighted the intensification of ethnic and racial conflict in the country. Amid these identity conflicts, some commentators from different intellectual and other persuasions have tried to explain ethnic and racial identity problems in relation to primordial, constructive and instrumental theoretical underpinnings. This article goes further to draw a relationship between economic downturn and identity and xenophobic violence. The article draws arguments from a review of existing literature and empirical data. https://epubs.ac.za/index.php/ahmr/article/view/775MigrationIdentityEthnicityRacismRegionalismXenophobia
spellingShingle Phineas Bbaala
Njekwa Mate
Nowhere to Run: A Review of the Political Economy of Migration, Identity and Xenophobic Violence in Zambia
African Human Mobility Review
Migration
Identity
Ethnicity
Racism
Regionalism
Xenophobia
title Nowhere to Run: A Review of the Political Economy of Migration, Identity and Xenophobic Violence in Zambia
title_full Nowhere to Run: A Review of the Political Economy of Migration, Identity and Xenophobic Violence in Zambia
title_fullStr Nowhere to Run: A Review of the Political Economy of Migration, Identity and Xenophobic Violence in Zambia
title_full_unstemmed Nowhere to Run: A Review of the Political Economy of Migration, Identity and Xenophobic Violence in Zambia
title_short Nowhere to Run: A Review of the Political Economy of Migration, Identity and Xenophobic Violence in Zambia
title_sort nowhere to run a review of the political economy of migration identity and xenophobic violence in zambia
topic Migration
Identity
Ethnicity
Racism
Regionalism
Xenophobia
url https://epubs.ac.za/index.php/ahmr/article/view/775
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