Understanding the mindset of a tribalist | Zambia Daily Mail

ByPROFESSOR KENNETH MWENDA
At the outset, I would like to acknowledge that any discussion on the concepts of ?tribe? and ?tribalism?, respectively, cannot escape the academic disciplines of anthropology and ethnology.
And closely-related to that are views from disciplines such as psychology and sociology. Now, it is not the purpose of this article to regurgitate the large volume of literature from these disciplines.
Suffice it to say, there are various theories that help to explain the strange phenomena of tribe and tribalism. However, my preferred definition of the term ?tribe? is derived from FreeDictionary.com. The said definition postulates that a tribe is a ?social division of a people, especially of a preliterate people, defined in terms of common descent, territory, culture, etc?.
Then, the term ?tribalism? is defined by FreeDictionary.com as ?a strong feeling of identity with, and loyalty to, one?s tribe or group?. These two definitions are sufficient for the purposes of our essay. But, then, how does the mind of a tribalist really work? I know you are all curious to hear what I am about to say.
For us to know fully well how the mind of a tribalist works, we first have to subject it to some serious psychiatric and psychological tests
Now, we are not psychologists or psychiatrists, but we can somehow help the psychologists and psychiatrists by teasing out some common and generic environmental factors that tend to influence the mind of a tribalist.
And what we are about to outline below are simply generic factors. We recognise, however, that to every general rule there can be some exception(s). And so, we are mindful that there can be some isolated exceptions to a number of the factors outlined below.
Further, some arguments may appear like they contradict each other, such as when we talk about poverty having a link to racial and tribal prejudices, on the one hand, and then education and wealth, on the other, failing to change the prejudicial mindset of some racists and tribalists.
Indeed, there will always be some incorrigible and stubbornly myopic folks out there. Although this article is primarily about tribalism, the issue of racism comes in only as a helpful comparative. So, here we go.
Rural upbringing
Akin to a higher likelihood of encountering racist views in places such as the US among some older white folks that grew up in the times of the civil rights movement, there is also a similar likelihood of encountering some tribalism among some older Africans that were raised in the African rural areas and villages.
Like racism, tribalism has strong connections and roots to rural life. In the US, for example, the southern States are rather notorious for such prejudices, in contrast to the more cosmopolitan urban areas.
In Africa, the same analogy applies when we are dealing with tribalism. The more rural a fella behaves, the more likely that he is going to have some tribal dispositions. But do not get me wrong. It is not everything about the rural areas that is bad. There are also many good things that emanate from the rural areas.
Further, tribalism and racism can be found in the urban areas as well, although they both tend to be inspired mainly by values of primitive levels of development as opposed to the scientific age of modernity
In general, tribalism and racism are both ?closed-minded? ways of looking at life, and they are both tied closely to superstitious and primitive modes of conceiving knowledge.
Hence, it is not surprising that, in some instances, acute forms of tribalism have led to civil wars, secessionist claims, cannibalism, witchcraft, sorcery and so forth. Tribalism is very unscientific and primitive.
Even education or church can?t change some tribalists
As they say, you can take some African to school but you cannot take the bush out of his or her head. The same analogy here applies to racism.
You can take some racist to school, but you can?t get the racism out of his or her head. It is not easy for a person with such prejudices to drop them just like that simply because he or she has gone to school.
You need more than a strong cleansing detergent to clean the prejudices out of their minds. Thus, you will find many educated people that are still racists and tribalists today. Some even have PhDs, and have done many great and admirable works.
Yet, they still struggle with the issue of racism or tribalism. Everything for them revolves around the issue of race or tribe. Even in the church, you will find some pastors who are racists or tribalists.
Distorted family values as part of their socialisation
Closely related to the issue of rural upbringing, some parents inculcate tribal values in their children by constantly pontificating stereotypes against certain tribes.
For example, it is not uncommon in Zambia for some parents to object to or discourage their daughter or son from marrying someone from a certain tribe. I will not go into details here because some readers might take it personal
But you all know what I am talking about, don?t you? (smile) So, if elders in the family or community are propagating tribal views, these views are likely to influence the young ones negatively.
Remember that some of these elders have the tribal and ?rural-upbringing? baggage even though they may appear to be affluent socialites in the urban areas.
Distorted forms of peer-pressure, role models and other related modes of socialisation
Do you know someone who is obsessed with, or constantly talking about, or hanging out mainly with folks that he or she went to school with in some remote rural part of Zambia many years ago? Such people find it hard to pick up new friends from other tribes along the way.
Even when such people have been to university, they still remain loyally close to their village acquaintances or childhood friends who they went with to high school or primary school in the village.Quite often, much of their communication is conducted in their native language even when others around them cannot understand the language that they are speaking.
At times, you might find that you are in a group of people, and you will all be talking in English, but as soon as one of the culpable chaps notices that someone else has joined the group, and that that newcomer speaks his or her native language, then the two of them will immediately switch to their native language, cutting everyone out of the conversation.
Such lack of decency and manners is common with people that are not well-cultivated. And you will find that such behaviours are commonplace in workplaces, schools and many other institutions.
For example, as soon as someone notices that your name reads as if you are from his or her tribe, they will be quick to reach out to you until they realise that you are not ?one of them?! Yes, my name is ?Mwenda?.? And it is found in almost all the ten (10) provinces of Zambia, as well as in many neighbouring countries, including Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Angola, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. So, you can imagine how many times I have come across such inquisitions and prejudices.
But can tribalists cease to be tribalists when they are placed in a different environment such as when they are living abroad or when they are working in a different province in Zambia from that which they emanate from?
A common indication of tribal inclinations is where individuals from a particular country want to first identify people from their tribe before they can warm up to people from other tribes from their country. Such people would rather forge bonds with fellow tribesmates before they can think of the concept of the ?nation?.
For a tribalist, he or she has no sense of nationalism or national patriotism. His or her patriotism is parochial and limited to the tribe. And his or her closest friend or ally is often a fellow tribesmate. Tribalists only reach out to others outside their tribe when they are stranded, but, in turn, are reluctant to help people from other tribes.
And a tribalist is often not ready to learn or to speak a different language from his or her own (with the exception of colonial languages like English or French). Look, although I am Ushi, I speak Nyanja and Bemba fluently. And I have no difficulties speaking Nyanja with my Eastern friends.
I have told myself that I have to be flexible and adaptable. A tribalist, by contrast, is rigid and not flexible. His or her points of reference often oscillate back to the small shops and the unknown aristocrats in his or her native little hometown or home village.
And those are the kind of role models that a tribalist looks up to. It then makes it very hard to strike genuine friendship with such people. What to do now? That is where the psychologists, psychiatrists, anthropologists and ethnologists come in.

* The interpretations and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author. They do not represent the views of any institution, person or body to which the author is affiliated. For feedback on the article, the author can be reached electronically at: KMwenda@yahoo.com

Source: http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=15334

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