Afriqu’à midi vom Freitag, 15. Dezember 2006

Gespräch in englischer Sprache mit Prof. Nandini Patel (Malawi):
Asian Minorities in Africa

What constitutes a minority? Is it the numerical position, or the possession of power, or distinguishing cultural and ethnic traits? It is in fact all of these which surface in different contexts at different times, and in different ways, having different consequences. The majority-minority dichotomy is generally represented as:

• Numerically small yet dominant and powerful over the majority. Thus the numerical majority here is actually a minority in terms of power and status. For example: Whites in South Africa, the Tutsis in Rwanda.
• Numerically small, subordinated to and oppressed by the majority. Examples: Kurds in Iraq, Koreans in Japan.

The case of Asians (Indians) in Africa does not fall into either of these two categories. They are numerically small, yet economically successful. However, they are not dominant in the sense of not wielding power and of feeling insecure and vulnerable, such as, for example Chinese in the Philippines, and Jews in Europe.

Prof. Nandini Patel's presentation will include three parts. The first part deals with the qualities or traits of this group called sojourners/middlemen basing on the roles they assumed in the new countries they found themselves in during colonial rule, as a part of that legacy, and the manner in which they performed their roles. Part two deals with the phase of expulsions in the aftermath of African independence during the decades of the 1970s by dictatorship regimes and its consequence on the community. Part three, finally, deals with the emergence of democracy in the 1990s and its impact on this community and its relationship with the mainstream. Is democracy paving the way for a gradual process of social integration?

Nandini Patel is Senior Lecturer in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Malawi. As a Guest Researcher at the Institute of Federalism of the University of Fribourg, she is currently working on National Minorities in the Democratic Process - The Case of the Asian Minority in Malawi.

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Mittagstisch organisiert vom Zentrum für Afrikastudien ZASB
in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Afrika-Komitee

Input in englischer Sprache, anschliessend Diskussion
Ort: Bibliothek des Zentrums Gender Studies, Steinengraben 5, Basel

Afrika-Komitee: www.absa.ch/AK
Zentrum für Afrikastudien ZASB: www.unibas-zasb.ch
Mehr zu Afrika in Basel und Basel in Afrika: www.absa.ch