Skip to main content

The global ‘order’, socioeconomic status and the economics of African identity.

Kamau, Caroline W., Rutland, Adam (2005) The global ‘order’, socioeconomic status and the economics of African identity. African Identities, 3 (2). pp. 171-193. ISSN 1472-5843. (doi:10.1080/14725840500235407) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:4362)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?co...

Abstract

Chronic elitism within Africa has created a two-tier milieu in which those

Africans who are in a position to take advantage of the global economic system

often do so at the expense of other Africans. The effects of social class and

indicators of individual economic mobility on African identity were thus

examined. 213 Kenyans participated in this questionnaire-based study for

structural equation analysis. The main finding was that socioeconomic status

(SES) positively predicts individual economic mobility, which then negatively

influences African identity concepts, and that the significance of economic

concepts for African identity depends on social class. For example, in the high

SES group, materialism and cynicism about Africa’s future economic global

prospects were found to have a negative effect on commitment to the national

economy and African identity. The general implication is that anti-group

economic behaviour in Africa (e.g. corruption, worker exploitation) is

attributable to individual mobility, as well as to intra-national and global

economic structures.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1080/14725840500235407
Uncontrolled keywords: African identity; upward mobility; class; global economics; international trade
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: C.A. Simms
Date Deposited: 08 Jun 2008 13:20 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:42 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/4362 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Rutland, Adam.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.