By Kellys Kaunda
POLITICS OF IDENTITY – THE QUESTION OF REGIONALISM IN ZAMBIA
Identity and a sense of belonging are inert to all human beings. Some identities are natural while others are social. Sometimes, we identify ourselves as either male or female; sometimes we identify ourselves by the language we speak; by our tribe; by the university we went to; the soccer team we support, the political party we belong to, etc.
When we are running for public office, sometimes we choose to run in places where we think we have a better chance of winning – where we live; where we were born; where our parents live, etc. Our power base may be where most of our tribes’ men and women are in large numbers.
Is it tribalism or regionalism for Southern Province to vote overwhelmingly for HH? I do not think of it that way. Instead, because of his cultural ties with the province, because of politics of identity, because as human beings we naturally gravitate towards someone that share important social and cultural ties with us, Southern province has in the past voted for HH.
Tribalism is a negative way of identifying with one’s cultural grouping. Tribalism occurs where you single out someone or a group of people for purposes of denying them privileges that they deserve. Tribalism or regionalism can also occur in subtle ways, ways that may not be obvious to the practitioner but obvious to the targeted individual. It is not a crime or something to be ashamed of to point out where regionalism or tribalism occurs.
It is a pretense to bash references to regionalism where someone identifies it. In fact, those that rush to bash it do so because of the embarrassment it brings when they are described as actually being regional. When someone describes you this way, the constructive response is to take a step back and interrogate the motivation for your engagement in a particular discourse.
Speaking for myself, I have noted increasingly regionalism and politics of identity on my page. It is obvious and pulpable. I say this with a measure of certainty because some of the regulars on my page are people that I know from personal association while others I know by name and their profiles that I regularly check. Often, the engagement is not informed by the issues raised. Instead, they are informed by another form of identity – political affiliation.
Because I served in foreign service under the PF government, every criticism of the present government I make is dismissed because ‘I am PF; PF lost, etc’. This is another form of social identity that can either be used negatively or employed positively. Usually, it is employed negatively on my page. The negativity is so much, you can see it from the insults that UPND supporters liberally dish out on my page. I have read comments from young men and women young enough to be my own children employ extremely demeaning terms, terms even their own parents would shy away from if they knew it was their own children using them.
