ABSTRACT

Malawi has recently seen a rise in the number and prominence of formal ethnic associations. What is the nature of these organizations and what effect will they have on politics? To answer these questions, we conducted in-depth interviews with current and former leaders of the three main ethnic associations, Mulhako wa Alhomwe, Mzimba Heritage Association, and Chewa Heritage Foundation. The interviews and other documentary sources allow us to place these new organizations in historical context, describe their organizational structures, and examine their potential political influence. We depart from other studies in arguing that these ethnic associations are unlikely to pose a threat to state authority in the near term, and they have shown little or no sign of fomenting ethnic conflict. However, these ethnic associations have the potential to be used for political mobilization, especially when ethnic traditional authorities lack the capacity and autonomy to block the political manipulation of ethnic organizations.

摘要

马拉维最近看到正式的民族协会的数量和知名度在增加。这些组织的性质是什么，它们将对政治产生什么影响？为了回答这些问题，我们对三个主要民族协会（Mulhako wa Alhomwe，Mzimba Heritage Association和Chewa Heritage Foundation）的现任和前任领导人进行了深入采访。采访和其他文献资料使我们能够将这些新组织置于历史背景下，描述其组织结构，并研究其潜在的政治影响。我们与其他研究不同，认为这些种族协会在短期内不太可能对国家权威构成威胁，并且它们几乎没有或没有加剧种族冲突的迹象。然而，