Problems with indigeneity:

Fragmentation, discrimination and exclusion in post-colonial African states

Abstract

Taking indigeneity and hybridity as opposite theoretical paradigms in the study of religion, this article problematises political discourses and practices that propagate the former view. The post-colonial resurgence of indigeneity is first contextualised with reference to anthropological studies of its political uses in Botswana and Cameroon, and then problematised with reference to its foregrounding in Freedom Park. It is argued that this tendency poses the danger of social fragmentation, discrimination and exclusion in post-colonial African contexts, which is precisely what the South African Constitution and National Policy on Religion and Education intend to prevent.