Week 10: Dangerous Liaisons

Chapter 3: “Of Balkans and Banustans: Ethnic Cleansing and the Crisis in National Legitimation” by Rob Nixon

Summary:

This chapter is mainly concerned with comparing the ethnic cleansing of the Balkans (in the Serbia region of southeast Europe) and the Banustans (in southwest Africa, now Namibia). Nixon introduces this chapter by stating that ethnic nationalism and more new states have arisen in Europe and Eurasia since the end of WWII (“boundaries appear to be more elastic”) (p. 69). Imperial collapse has led to instability within nations, which has in turn led to the importance of ethnicities. Nixon states: “The project of ‘cleansing’ such places may be vindicated by the contention, among others, that ‘improving’ a community’s ethnic consistency requires short-term violence for ends of long-term peace” (p. 70-71).

As stated, the focus of this chapter is to compare and contrast the ethnic cleansing of the Balkans and the Banustans and I have chosen a few examples from the chapter to present. After the breakup of Yugoslavia ethnic cleansing occurred as part of the new order. In contrast, in South Africa ethnic cleansing was part of the old order, or traditional order. The suffering of these two groups is also compared. Banustans suffered: “collective expulsion; forced migration; the bulldozing, gutting or seizure of homes; the mandatory carrying of ‘passes’ detailing the holder’s putative ethnicity and movements; and the corralling into rural ghettos of people decreed to be ‘illegal squatters,’ ‘surplus,’ ‘idle,’ ‘alien’ or ‘unassimilable’” (p. 74). Nixon continues to explain that “ethnicity serves as an ethical leveler” (p. 76) and that “the distinction between a paradigm foregrounding physical features and one emphasizing cultural contingencies is by no means absolute” (p. 77). However, cultures generally present these differences as biological differences. Nixon also briefly discusses the role of women, they are given “symbolically crucial roles as reproducers of the nation and as upholders of its innermost values” (p. 77). On the other hand, this does not mean that they are given equal rights. He continues: “Mass rape is, among other things, organized insemination, men’s way of interfering with the lineage of the enemy” (p. 78).

In conclusion, Nixon offers an explanation of homogeneity for ethnic cleansing. He states that there are greater rewards for pursuing sameness and that it is enough of an incentive for violence.


Reaction:


I found this chapter to be a little bit dense in terms of information. I also did not find it clear why the author wanted to explain the differences between these two ethnic cleansings. I assumed that they were presented as different to present the loss of human life on both sides, but at the end of the article this was still unclear. I found some of the similarities to be more interesting and revealing than the dissimilarities. I preferred the next chapter in terms of presenting information and examples of post-colonial issues of “gender, race, and nationalism.”



Chapter 4: “‘No longer in a Future Heaven’: Gender, Race and Nationalism”


Summary:


McClintock begins this chapter by stating: “All nationalisms are gendered; all are invented; and all are dangerous” (p. 89). This statement basically sums up the entire chapter. She continues by explaining that national identity is gendered and males are given the power based on gender difference. Nira Yuval-Davis and Floya Anthias identified five ways that women have been implicated into nationalism: 1) as biological reproducers of the members of national collectivities 2) as reproducers of the boundaries of national groups (through restrictions on sexual or marital relations 3) as active transmitters and producers of the national culture 4) as symbolic signifiers of national difference and 5) as active participants in national struggles (p. 90).

McClintock explains that in the family model, it is accepted as natural that the man is the head of the household. It then proceeds “logically” that he would be the head of the nation and of national identity. Women are always implicated as being part of society, but subservient to men. The author also explains that history must be recorded in order to show improvement and progress within the society, and thus legitimize certain actions. “Women were seen not as inhabiting history proper but as existing, like colonized peoples, in a permanently anterior time within the modern nation” (p. 93). McClintock introduces Frantz Fanon as an important figure in demystifying gender in nationalism. Fanon questions the naturalness of nationalism, looks at the family model as a product of social power, and recognizes military power structures within the family (authority of father). Next, the author discusses the inventing of traditions to legitimize history and create a false sense of nationalism. She gives the example of the “Tweede Trek,” in Africa which was basically a spectacle that was created to draw attention and make people feel that they had a collective identity. This was adopted from a similar plan used by the Nazis. Here people traveled long distances in covered wagons from town to town and became known as national heroes. McClintock labeled this as a “collective fetish spectacle” (p. 102).

The last section is titled “Feminism and Nationalism.” Here McClintock makes concluding remarks about women’s rights in Africa. She addresses the title of this chapter; it is a quote by Fanon that states: “national transformation is ‘no longer in a future heaven’” (p. 110). Basically, McClintock is referring to the fact that even in revolutions feminism has never really been the focus and that no revolution leads to a perfect society.