The search for political order and identity in the twenty-first century

Pursuing the consequences of colonialism and decolonization introduced in the previous chapter, the fifteenth chapter looks at politics in the contemporary world, which is a mobile, uncertain, and highly contested world. The chapter first considers how the specific independence processes and experiences in former colonies shaped their postcolonial politics. Then, building on the legacy of plural or multi-ethnic societies, the chapter draws the critical distinction between a nation and a state and explores how attempts to integrate populations into a single identity group—to instill a single state imagination—have often failed, resulting in competition and conflict between sub-state and trans-state groups and in struggles to control the state or to form a state of their own. Another consequence of such struggle and strife is the creation of large refugee or diaspora populations, many living in temporary camps outside their homeland. Finally, the chapter investigates two of the most surprising and alarming global political developments: (1) the return of the state and the weakening of international cooperation, and (2) the decline of democracy and rise of right-wing populist parties and leaders.