Identity, Diversity And, Constitutionalism in Africa

by Francis Mading Deng, Daniel J. Deng, David K. Deng

Since independence, African states have struggled under the burden of European models of governance. Hobbled by these alien frameworks, countries have limped from crisis to crisis, unable to establish their democratic legitimacy or to quell the secessionist demands of marginalized minorities. In this innovative and stimulating volume, Francis Deng outlines a new relationship between governments and societies a relationship informed by Western concepts, but based on traditional African values such as respect for human dignity, equality, and self-rule. Francis Deng, a distinguished scholar and world-renowned diplomat, interweaves legal and cultural anthropology, constitutional law, political science, and a practitioner's pragmatism as he dissects current dilemmas and devises feasible solutions. At the heart of the volume are two key constitutionalism as an evolving system of laws, norms, practices, and institutions; and self-determination as both an expression of identity and a tool for conflict prevention and resolution. These two ideas, argues Deng, can help Africans resolve the tension between ethnic diversity and national identity.

308 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2008

About the author

Dr. Francis Mading Deng, J.S.D. (Yale University; LL.M., Yale; B.L., Khartoum University), is a politician and diplomat from South Sudan who served as the newly independent country's first ambassador to the United Nations. From 1992 until 2004 he served as the United Nations' first Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.

He has authored and edited 40 books in the fields of law, conflict resolution, internal displacement, human rights, anthropology, folklore, history and politics and has also written two novels on the theme of the crisis of national identity in the Sudan .