Intro - Mapping ethnicity in CAR

1. 1. Mapping Ethnicity in CAR [2,000 words] GC
Historical reconstruction of the role of colonialism in the definition of ethnic groups
Permeability of national borders
Structure of the repartition of resources
In order to sketch out an ethnic-demographic reconstruction of the Central African Republic’s state
is essential to consider the historical perspective of the ethnicization process operated by the
colonialism enterprise. This refers in particular to the role that pre-colonial exploration and the
following French domination had on the imposition of new definitions of “natives” belonging
identity, and to the political consequences of this process.
The French colony of the territory once known as Ubangui-Chari was established in 1903,
enshrining the control that the French practiced in the region since the end of the nineteenth century
through the control of the outpost river of Bangi (the current capital Bangui) located in a
commercially strategic point.
The process of exploration and conquest of the Congo Basin territory, not differently from the rest
of the African continent, coincided with the development of ethnological sciences, which were
called to answer complex questions posed by the encounter with an alterity evocative of a powerful
imaginary. The conception of the African man ranged from the noble savage myth of Rousseau, a
naive but educable and convertible figure, to the evocation of a ferocious and uncontrollable
cannibal’s ferocity, which could be instrumentalised to justify the use of brute force in the conquest
process and an economic enterprise based on forced labor. Both of these interpretations of the
native, contradictory yet complementary, deeply influenced the perception of otherness and its
definition.
Strongly influenced by the methodology of increasingly popular natural sciences, an ethnology
primary task was to categorize human populations, focusing primarily on physical and linguistic
criteria.
This alleged scientific rigour was strongly hindered by difficult environmental conditions and
transportation that precluded access to parts of the territory, as well as the inevitable communication
problems with the natives.
The classification of human groups was ordered according to a hierarchical scheme, with the aim of
identifying counterparts considered more "educable", and elevate them to alleys or mediators of the
conquest, according to the administrative scheme of indirect governance implemented by the
French. A clear ethnic division was so interpreted as a possible contribution to the establishment of
an effective governance.
It follows that the description of the different ethnic groups of the Ubangui Chari region results
often contradictory over the years, deeply affected by the attempt to create an alterity "intelligible",
able to meet the expectations of the French elite.
One of the best examples of that can be recognized in the case of Bondjos ethnicity, whose
controversial identity highlights effectively the roles of ethnic stereotyping in the imagination of the
colonial conquest.
In the paper "Bondjos Ethnicity and colonial imagination" the author recount how the theorization
of this ethnic group, from exploration to conquest, fulfils the function of simplifying and appoint
the presence of a hostile group in the territory. Defined as "the most vicious cannibals of the
county", the Bondjos are described grotesquely by sociological reports, absolving to a negative
embodying of the savage. Observing how the "disappearance" of the Bondjos as ethnicity coincided

2. with the relative pacification of the consolidation of French power, it follows that the ethnic group
has fulfilled a purely mythical function in the years.
Bondjos never exist as they were conceived by the French, but they were born from an ethnographic
copy and paste, often designed to bring together in a single category group and individuals of which
there were no comprehensive data.
As noted by the authors: "These inconsistencies, revealing inaccurate perceptions of the social and
material cultures of the indigenous populations, did not prevent the whites from forming policies
crucial for Their occupation of the territory, These policies were based in part, of course, on the
ongoing ethnography That was being done, but ethnography That was itself a product of the contact
"dialectic."1
Highlight the racist crucial component inherent to anthropological study of the IXX, XX century (the
one that will be defined by Levi Strauss as the original sin of the discipline2) does not only wants to
underline the contradictions of the process of ethnological mapping and remark its scientific
fallibility, but is revealing useful in pointing out how even if arbitrary, ethnic categorization does
not require objective evidence to become a powerful intellectual tool, useful to social-political
control.
Once theorized, the colonial ethnic classification was indeed "put into practice", becoming
fundamental in the administrative control of the region, that was organized by the territorial division
into districts, cantons and villages, each of which was under the authority of a chief appointed by
French.
Even where the colonial classification of ethnicities coincided with an effective identification of
demographic groups, homogeneous for traditions, language, territorial belonging, history, etc,
balances and relationships that existed among the different communities were altered.
The appointed chief in fact enjoyed a relative discretion in regard to the political and economic
control of the territory, but these representatives were often chosen despite their power was entitled
“even without a traditional basis for his position, and even though he might not be a member of the
predominant ethnic group in his canton. "3
Historically, the bureaucratic manipulation of ethnic categories rewrote the boundaries of
identitarian belonging within the paradigm of racial identity.
The potential of a more fluid identity began to weaken , the boundaries of which could be more
easily rounded and renegotiated by migrations, marriages, ascended in social prestige and alliances.
Symbolic boundaries were not the only ones to be drafted in those years of western domination. It is
indeed common knowledge that African political boundaries were established in consideration of
territorial western interests, drawing artificial but final lines which were able to separate
homogeneous populations as well as forcing hostile ones to politically cohabit. In the case of the
Central African Republic the main result of this policy is particularly problematic in the northeast
part of the country (but not limited to) where Muslim populations are recollected to be culturally
more affiliated to South Sudan than to the other populations in the Central-West CAR's area.
1cit. William J. Samarin, “Bondjos Ethnicity and Colonial Imagination”, Canadian Journal of African Studies Vol 18,
No 2 (1984) pp. 353
2“Le péché originel de l'anthropologie consiste dans la confusion entre la notion purement biologique de race (à
supposer, d'ailleurs, que, même sur ce terrain limité, cette notion puisse prétendre à l'objectivité, ce que la génétique
moderne conteste) et les productions sociologiques et psychologiques des cultures humaines.” Race et histoire (1952),
Claude Lévi-Strauss, éd. Folio, coll. Essais, 1989
3 Cit Brian Weinstein ,“Felix Eboue and the Chiefs: Perceptions of Power in Early Oubangui-Chari”, The Journal of
African History, Vol. 11, No. 1 (1970), pp. 109

3. Due to the weakness of the State’s influence, especially in areas located far from the capital, is also
understandable how those boundaries, already “artificial”, result to be extremely porous. This factor
is particularly important in order to underline the regional approach in studying structures and
dynamics of sub-Saharan conflicts, popular among political and social analysts.
Examining how this context was part of the heavy colonial legacy that survived the formal end of
French rule, it is possible to show how the CAR's independence, proclaimed in 1960, gave start to a
period dictated by political instability, where the card of ethnicity often played an important role in
the distribution of political and military power.
The table below illustrates the relationships between leaders, ethnicity, religious identity, territory
and diamond resources from independence to the present. Highlight any interference of the
international community or foreign states allows to include in the analysis the continuity with the
colonial past and the role of diplomatic relations.
When Who How External
Actors
Identity Group Language Geo
location4
Diamon
ds (Y-
N)5
Religion
1959-1965 David Dacko through
control of
MESAN
official party
of the country
French support Mbaka ethnic
group
Mbaka
language
Lobaye
region
y
Christian
1965-1979 Bédel Bokassa coup d'état French support Mbaka ethnic
group
Mbaka
language
Lobaye
region
y Catholicism,
between
1976 and
1976
1979-1981 David Dacko coupe d'etat French support Mbaka ethnic
group
Mbaka
language
Lobaye
region
y Catholicism
1981-1993 André Kolingba coupe d'etat French support Yakoma ethnic
group
Yakoma
language
(to verify) n-y (to
confirm)
Christian
1993-2003 Ange-Félix
Patassé
election international –
support by
the United
Nations
Electoral
Assistance
Unit
Sara-Kaba
ethnic group
Sara
language
northwester
province of
Ouham
Pendé
n Christian
2003-2013 François Bozizé coupe d'etat Chad support Gbaya ethnic
group
Sango Central-
West part of
country
y Christian
2013-2014 Michel Djotodia Seleka
rebellion -
coupe d'etat
/ "Muslim" -
religious
identification
Sango North East
-Vakanga
province
y Muslim
2014- Catherine Samba-
Panza
elected as
interim
president by
the National
Transitional
Council
international
support
"Christian" -
religious
identification
Sango
/ / Christian
Tracing briefly these years of crisis, the ethnic criterion is recognized as a potential route through
4
Ethnicities geolocation
5According to Chirico’s map , in relation to the indicated identity group’s area

4. which is possible to consolidate a political predominance resorting to corruption.
This was the case of the first (and the third) and the second president of the Central African State:
David Dacko and Bédel Bokassa. They were both original from the Lobaye region, near to Bangui,
the administrative heart of the country. They were relatives, belonging to the same ethnic group, the
M’baka, technically a minority (today represents only the 4% of the total population6) but highlty
represented in local institutions.
They were both accused to privilege the M'baka Ethnicities trough the establishment of a “parasitic
caste”(Global Views 2015) instituted at first by David Dacko contrary to the interests of the middle
lower classes.
President André Kolingba as well based his policy assigning to people affiliated to his own ethnic
group, the Yakoma, powerful roles in companies and public administrations, consolidating a
favouritism’s policy which was imitated by his successors.
This imbalance was particularly pronounced in the composition of the army, whose ethnic
composition, under President Kolingba, Patassé, an Bozize, was always biased in favour of the
ethnic group of the leader in power, never reflecting the country’s demographic proportions.
In those years, despite ethnic tensions, violence against defined ethnic groups was never politically
arranged in preparation to genocidal dynamics as it occurred for example in Rwanda in 1992. One
of the main reason for this can be recognized in the fallibility of the CAR's State, which was unable
to avoid political instability for the time needed in order to organize the establishment of an
effective ethnocratic regime.
The coupe d'etat of Michel Djotodia in 2013 through the support of the Seleka coalition marks the
beginning of the current conflict and redefines the identity definition into religion classification.
Trough the rise to power of the first CAR’s Muslim President ethnicity is not crucial anymore, faith
it is.
As well as her predecessor, also the current interim President Catherine Samba Panza,, elected in
2014, presents herself as Christian, never referring to her ethnic belonging.
Indeed, she reveals to be extremely cautious when she is asked about the identity components of the
conflict. Speaking about massacres against Muslim communities she declared: "Ethnic-cleansing is
a bad phrase, it's not appropriate. We do not have an ethnic problem. We have problems with a
community conflict with religious aspects. We are not killing an ethnic group."7
As will be discussed in the next section, the current conflict has not therefore developed on proper
ethnic lines since in the recent CAR's history the main identitarian category emerged to be religion.
However, the construction of identity, in fact its polarization, remains one of the most decisive
factors in the study of the escalation of then Central African conflict between Balaka and former
Seleka.
6 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ct.html
7Statement released for “The Guardian”, article published on 2, March 2014 :
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/02/catherine-samba-panza-central-african-republic