Rise of Nationalism Case Study 2022

Rise of nationalism and its evolution in three stages of liberation struggle formed the crux
of independent Africa
Award-winning Documentary “Rise of the nationalism” by Basil Davidson starts on a positive
note when he introduces the era right after the second world war, this documentary captures the
economic growth of the gold coast of Ghana, during the initial years. Images of the felicitation of
Black soldiers who fought bravely appear in front of us. This section also shows some visuals of
black people performing in the mainstream economy with the white people (Erjavec). However,
the undertones of certain key events indicate the beginning stage of a social movement. The
theories of sociology identify this stage as the “Emergence phase.” In the case of Gold coast
Ghana, this Phase of emergence was the beginning of a Freedom struggle. At the same time
when we have a look at the freedom struggle which was taking place in the northern part of the
country, we find that it was more of a battle between two communities which sublimated into a
freedom struggle when the oppressed community revolted against a mighty oppressor
(Wansbrough).
In the case of Eastern Africa, we find the presence of strong leadership in the form of some
advocates of democracy. Leaders like Dr. Kwame Nkrumah paved the way for the next stage
of this freedom struggle which is Coalescence. Under stage coalescence, a certain section of
society demands equality in social status, mostly by the virtue of their majority. The freedom
struggle of Gold coast Ghana and many other countries in Eastern Africa presents an example of
a “democratic war, where the oppressors were in minority and the threshold of the Majority
forced them out of the corridors of power (Brittain).