The Causes of Politicization of Ethnicity

Recent literature establishes that ethnicity needs to be politically relevant to have a negative effect on a country’s development process. Yet, an understanding of the factors that cause ethnicity to be a political salient factor is still limited. This paper compares the development of the high politicization of ethnicity in Kenya to the low politicization in Tanzania by tracing the impact of ethnic structures, colonial administration, land distribution, and nation building policies on the politicization of ethnicity. Evidence from extensive archival material, historical secondary sources and expert interviews rejects the ethnic structure argument but supports the negative impact of colonial rule and land distribution, and the positive impact of nation building policies on the politicization of ethnicity. Indeed, fully implemented nation building policies, such as the promotion of Swahili and the intermingling of secondary school students, have the potential to lastingly mitigate the political salience of ethnicity.