The Politics of Regionalism and Federation in East Africa, 1958–1964

Abstract

Recent scholarship discussing the ‘federal moment’ in world history after 1945 has re-examined alternatives to the nation-state in the years of decolonization, arguing against any inevitable transition from empire to nation. This article focuses on the case of East Africa, where federation seemed an attractive and likely prospect by 1963, yet never came to pass. Here, the politics of federation should be understood as a constitutive part of the contested nation-state-making process, rather than a viable alternative to it. For the leaders who initiated the politics of federation in the 1960s, regional unity promised the further centralization of power and a means of defeating ‘tribalist’ opposition. For their opponents, federation was seized on as a means of promoting the autonomy of provinces or kingdoms within a larger federal unit. Ultimately, regionalist aspiration was inseparable from national politics, and negotiations among the leaders of East African states demanded the definition of national interests which divided states rather than united them. Such conclusions suggest that historians of the federal moment might more productively focus on the functions of federalist discourse in the making of nation-states rather than debating the viability of federalist projects.

African regionalism, economic nationalism and the contested politics of social purpose: the East African Community and the ‘new developmentalism’

“…The history of regional integration and cooperation between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda dates back to the early 20th century, when the three countries were British colonies (Ingham 1967; Nye 1966) and following their independence in the early 1960s, there were even discussions about them uniting under a political federation (Vaughan 2019). Ultimately, political unity did not emerge and regionalism did not survive long after independence, with the first iteration of the EAC having effectively collapsed by 1977 (Hazlewood 1979).…”

Multilateralism, Developmental Regionalism, and the African Development Bank

“…There are similarities in how countries bounded within different regional frameworks seek to achieve these interests, and thus it is common that ideas on design and structures are borrowed from the experiences of other regions. For Africa, regionalism has been subjected to significant debate (Ramutsindela, 2005;Vaughan, 2019) and some studies have argued that the concept of regionalism may not work effectively in the continent (Chazan et al, 1999;Francis, 2006). Despite their merited concerns on whether regionalism can work well given the historical collapse of some continental (Organisation of African Unity) and subregional organisations (East African Community, which was created in 1967, dissolved in 1977, and reinstated in 2000), existing organisations are indeed adjusting and adapting to changes that are happening at the continental, regional, and national levels.…”