Inclusive Democracy against Negative Ethnicity A Pathway for Peace-building in Africa

Abstract

It is a fact that, the movement of democratization in the continent of Africa, which began in 1990, has not created any significant impact on the process of transformation. Mostly, this is because of a difficult convergence of interest between cultural identities as well as the persistence of several ethnic conflicts. This reflection aims at promoting an inclusive democracy against anything that corrupts the collective consciousness, such as cultural solipsism, tribalism, regionalism and ethnocentrism. After giving a general
understanding of what is democracy as well as the necessary link between the concept of democracy and cultural identity, this reflection will culminate in a positive ethnic identity whose vision is to give a chance for participation and opportunity to each group in the process of decision-making. Such a vision presupposes that democracy in it-self is understood as a political system based upon the principle of collectivity and representative groups. These three concepts, in relation to cultural identity, will help a nation to bring together the diversity of cultural identity and the cultural traditions in order to create a space of dialogue, mutual understanding and agreement which avoids discrimination, cultural imperialism and ethnocentrism by strengthening the sense of common citizenship and nationhood in a sort of unity in diversity as intended by God throughout the salvific history.