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The Case of the Chewa Kingdom of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia

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The Case of the Chewa Kingdom of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia THE WESTPHALIAN MODEL AND TRANS-BORDER ETHNIC IDENTITY: THE CASE OF THE CHEWA KINGDOM OF MALAWI, MOZAMBIQUE AND ZAMBIA HAPPY MICKSON KAYUNI A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Political Science) in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Political Studies, University of the Western Cape. Supervisors: Professor Joelien Pretorius and Professor Laurence Piper June 2014 i THE WESTPHALIAN MODEL AND TRANS-BORDER ETHNIC IDENTITY: THE CASE OF THE CHEWA KINGDOM OF MALAWI, MOZAMBIQUE AND ZAMBIA Happy Mickson Kayuni KEYWORDS Westphalia Chewa State Sovereignty Ethnic Identity Malawi Mozambique Zambia International Relations Politics of Representation. ii ABSTRACT This study is an investigation of the informal trans-border Chewa ethnic movement of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia and its relationship to the formal state boundaries defined by the Westphalian model. The Chewa refer themselves as belonging to a Kingdom (formerly the Maravi Kingdom) which currently cuts across the three modern African states of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia and its paramount, King Gawa Undi, is based in Zambia. The secretariat of the kingdom is Chewa Heritage Foundation (CHEFO), which is headquartered in Malawi. The fundamental quest of this study is to investigate how the Chewa understand, experience, manage and interpret the overlap between formal states (as defined by the Westphalian model) and informal trans-border ethnic identity without raising cross-border conflicts in the process. Indeed, it is this paradoxical co-existence of contradictory features of Westphalian political boundaries and trans-border ethnic identity that initially inspired this study. The main research aim is to interrogate whether the Chewa Kingdom (of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia) is challenging or confirming state boundaries, and to reflect on what this means for the contemporary Westphalian model. In International Relations (IR), the Westphalian model provides the assumption that states are independent actors with a political authority based on territory and autonomy. Despite a large number of criticisms of the model, it has not completely been dismissed in explaining some elements of the international system. This is evident by the underlying assumptions and perspectives that still persist in IR literature as well as the growing contemporary debates on the model, especially on its related elements of state sovereignty and citizenship. In Africa, the literature focuses on the formal structures and ignores the role of informal trans-border traditional entities - specifically, how trans-border traditional entities affect the re-definition of state and sovereignty in Africa. Such ignorance has led to a vacuum in African IR of the potentiality of the informal to complement the formal intra-regional state entities. Within a historical and socio-cultural framework, the study utilises [social] constructivism and cultural nationalism theories to critically investigate and understand the unfolding relationship between the Westphalian state and Chewa trans-border community. Another supporting debate explored is the relevance of traditional authorities under the ambit of politics of representation. In this case, the study fits in the emerging debate on the meaning, experience and relevance of state sovereignty and national identity (citizenship) in Africa. Drawing on a wide range of sources (informant interviews, focus group discussions, Afrobarometer survey data sets, newspaper articles and comparative literature surveys in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia), the study finds that although the upsurge of Chewa trans- border ethnic identity is theoretically contradictory to the Westphalian model, in practice it is actually complementary. Within the framework of [social] constructivism, the state has with some variations demonstrated flexibility and innovation to remain legitimate by co-opting the iii Chewa movement. In this case, the study finds that the co-existence of Westphalian model and trans-border Chewa ethnic identity is mainly due to the flexibility of the state to accommodate informal ethnic expressions in ways that ultimately reinforces the mutual dependence of the states and the ethnic group. For instance, during the Chewa Kulamba ceremony held in Zambia, the state borders are „relaxed‟ to allow unhindered crossing for the participants to the ceremony. This does not entail weakness of the state but its immediate relevance by allowing communal cultural expressions. Another finding is that the Chewa expression of ethnic identity could not be complete if it did not take a trans-border perspective. This set-up ensures that each nation-state plays a role in the expression of Chewa ethnic identity - missing one nation-state means that the historical and contemporary relevance of this identity would be lost. It is also this same set-up that limits the movement‟s possibility to challenge the formal state. This argument reinforces the social constructivist perspective that sovereignty is not static but dynamic because it fulfils different uses in a particular context. The overall argument of this study is that the revival of the informal Chewa trans-border traditional entity offers a new, exciting and unexplored debate on the Westphalian model that is possibly unique to the African set-up. One theoretical/methodological contribution of this study is that it buttresses some suggestions that when studying African IR, we have to move beyond the strict disciplinary boundaries that have defined the field and search for other related African state experiences. The study also strengthens one of the new approaches in understanding IR as social relations - in this approach, individuals and their activities or their social systems play a prominent role. iv DECLARATION I declare that The Westphalian Model and Trans-Border Ethnic Identity: The Case of the Chewa Kingdom of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia is my own work, that it has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged as complete references. Happy Mickson Kayuni June 2014 Signed:… ……. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I want to thank my God for enabling me to attain this prestigious feat which could not have been possible- humanly speaking. Secondly, I want to thank my wife Annie and my sons, Vitumbiko and Vuyo, for their support throughout the period when I was working on this thesis. Thirdly, I want to thank the Political and Administrative Studies Department of the University of Malawi for providing the much needed financial support. Fourthly, I want to thank Dr Blessings Chinsinga for providing a vehicle during my research which enabled me to criss-cross the country and reaching as far as Mozambique and Zambia. Finally but not least, I want to thank my wonderful supervisors Professor Laurence Piper and Assoc. Professor Joelien Pretorius who provided support from the beginning. vi ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ANC- African National Congress CHEFO- Chewa Heritage Foundation Coremo- Comite Revolucionario de Mocambique CRC- Constitution Review Commission DPP- Democratic Progressive Party FGD- Focus Group Discussion Frelimo- Frente de Liberacion de Mozambique IR- International Relations KCK- Kituo Cha Katiba MCP- Malawi Congress Party MMD- Movement for Multiparty Democracy NSO- National Statistics Office OAU- Organisation of African Unity OSISA- Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa PP- People‟s Party PRM- Partido Revolucionario de Mozambique Renamo-Resistencia Nacional Mocambicana SADCC- Southern African Development Coordination Conference UDF- United Democratic Front UNIP- United Nation Independence Party ZTB- Zambia Tourist Board vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... iii DECLARATION ......................................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... vi ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER 1 .............................................................................................................................................. 7 INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................. 7 1.1 Chapter introduction and background to the Study ................................................................. 7 1.2 Problem Statement ..................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Research hypothesis ................................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Study Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Significance of the study ........................................................................................................... 10 1.6 The Chewa Kingdom case study as a relevant approach ....................................................... 10 1.7 Definition of concepts ..............................................................................................................
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