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Africa: Historical Roots, Measurement, and Development Impacts

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Africa: Historical Roots, Measurement, and Development Impacts Cover: The tower of Babel painted by Pieter Breughel the Elder c. 1563 (museum: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria) THE LANGUAGE SITUATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: HISTORICAL ROOTS, MEASUREMENT, AND DEVELOPMENT IMPACTS De taalsituatie in Sub-Saharisch Afrika: historische wortels, meettechnieken en ontwikkelingseffecten (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. G.J. van der Zwaan, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op donderdag 19 november 2015 des ochtends te 10.30 uur door Katalin Buzási geboren op 29 november 1985 te Mátészalka, Hongarije Promotoren: Prof. dr. J.L. van Zanden Prof. dr. M.P.G.M. Mous Acknowledgements I would like to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to a number of people that have made the successful completion of my PhD project possible. First of all, I wish to thank my promotor, Jan Luiten van Zanden. Without his support I could never have the chance to obtain my PhD degree at a well-established Western European university. Second, I am greatly indebted to my co-promotor, Maarten Mous, who has always encouraged me, provided insightful comments on my work and has always had the time to help me with practical issues as well. Furthermore, I would like to thank my colleagues at the Department of History and Art History and the Center for Global Economic History for the inspiring working environment. I would like to thank the following persons individually for the friendly atmosphere and the precious moments we have experienced together: Winny Bierman, Sarah Carmichael, Selin Dilli, Miguel Laborda Peman, Mikolaj Malinowski, Felix Meier Zu Selhausen, Kostadis Papaioannou, Sandra de Pleijt, Auke Rijpma, Danielle Teeuwen, Annelies Tukker, Lotte van der Vleuten, and Pim de Zwart. I would like to thank Danielle also for translating the ‘Samenvatting’ and the abstracts. I am also grateful to my friends in the Netherlands and Hungary for being supportive and always interested in my progress: Martijn van Deel, Ewout ten Heuw, Leonard van Egmond, Clary Jelsma, Wilma Kaptein, Corine van Middelkoop, Wessel Nordeman, Harma Woldhuis, Maya Wester, Bas van Leeuwen, Jieli van Leeuwen-Li, Diána Balkay, Zsuzsanna Bényei, Béla Budai, Hella Debrecenyi, Bence Egri, Nóra Elek, Anett Flaskár, Judit Futó, Dóra Kerti, Marietta Kiss, István Kovács, Eszter Mózes, Levente Nádasi, Andrea Szabó, Enikő E. Szilágyi, and Máté Vona. Also, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents, László Buzási and Lászlóné Buzási, my grandma, Tivadarné Katona, for their invaluable support through the ups and downs of my PhD journey (and, of course, before that). And last but not least, I am grateful to Péter Földvári for his personal support, understanding in stressful periods, and constant encouragement in everyday life and in professional issues. Katalin Buzási Utrecht, 19 November 2015 Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 11 1.1 Motivation....................................................................................................................................... 11 1.2 The geographical scope of the study: Sub-Saharan Africa.......................................... 12 1.2.1 The peculiarities of the underdevelopment of Sub-Saharan Africa ......... 13 1.2.2 The linguistic features of Sub-Saharan Africa ................................................... 17 1.3 Language and society – a general overview ..................................................................... 20 1.3.1 The socio-economic impacts of ethnolinguistic diversity ............................ 20 1.3.2 Diversity measurement .............................................................................................. 22 1.3.3 Language as capital and capability ........................................................................ 25 1.3.4 Language dynamics ...................................................................................................... 26 1.4 Research goals, data, methodology and the outline of the thesis ............................ 27 1.4.1 Research goals and questions .................................................................................. 27 1.4.2 Data ..................................................................................................................................... 29 1.4.3 Methodology ................................................................................................................... 31 1.4.4 Results and the outline of the thesis ..................................................................... 32 1.5 Future perspectives .................................................................................................................... 37 2 The historical determinants of language status in Sub-Saharan Africa ........ 38 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 39 2.2 Historical background ............................................................................................................... 41 2.2.1 Linguistic situation before the colonial era ........................................................ 41 2.2.2 The linguistic effects of European colonization ............................................... 44 2.2.3 The postcolonial era ..................................................................................................... 47 2.2.4 Hypotheses ...................................................................................................................... 47 2.3 Data, variables and limitations .............................................................................................. 49 2.3.1 The dependent variable: language status ........................................................... 49 2.3.2 Sample design ................................................................................................................. 51 2.3.3 Socio-economic development of indigenous societies .................................. 53 2.3.4 Population share, missionary activities and colonial policies .................... 56 2.3.5 Other variables: geography, climate and the spread of Islam .................... 57 2.4 Empirical results and discussion .......................................................................................... 59 2.4.1 Hypothesis testing ........................................................................................................ 59 2.4.2 The development of African societies and the contact with Europeans 60 2.4.3 The share of linguistic groups within the country population ................... 66 2.4.4 Counterfactual analyzes ............................................................................................. 67 Appendix 2A ................................................................................................................................................. 73 3 Linguistic situation in twenty Sub-Saharan African countries: A survey- based approach........................................................................................................................... 83 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 84 3.2 The use of linguistic data .......................................................................................................... 85 3.3 The Afrobarometer Survey as a linguistic data source ................................................ 87 3.3.1 The survey ........................................................................................................................ 87 3.3.2 Benefits .............................................................................................................................. 87 3.3.3 Limitations ....................................................................................................................... 88 3.3.4 Comparison with alternative sources ................................................................... 90 3.4 The Index of Communication Potential (ICP) .................................................................. 93 3.5 A graphic representation of the ICP ..................................................................................... 96 3.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 107 Appendix 3A .............................................................................................................................................. 109 Appendix 3B .............................................................................................................................................. 110 Supplementary material ...................................................................................................................... 111 4 Languages, communication potential and generalized trust in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence based on the Afrobarometer Survey ................................................ 137 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 138 4.2 Theoretical background ........................................................................................................
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