This article highlights some aspects of the debate on State formation in Africa in the postcolonial period. Two main themes appear to have largely defined the debate, viz. the issue of State power and capacity, and that of national identity and unity. Reviewing the debate, there appears to have been an internal logic to its evolution. It was virtually inevitable that the initial emphasis would be on the new State institutions and their performance. Similarly, when the first contradictions became apparent, there was a certain logic to the search for socialist alternatives. Today, as the African State is under increasing internal and external stress, there is a logic to the conceptual exploration of the non-State sphere for possible alternatives. The implications of these trends for changing identities are discussed in terms of the incorporation and disengagement thesis, which argues that, in periods of expanding State involvement, various social groups tend to identify more closely with the political centre, while in times of relative disengagement, they turn away from the centre, emphasizing ethnic, regional or other communal identities. Notes, ref.
