Publications des scientifiques de l'IRD

Cunin Elisabeth. (2019). "Belmopan. A New Capital for a New Nation" State, nation and ethnicity at the time of independence. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 39 (3), p. 348-361. ISSN 0261-3050.

Titre du document
"Belmopan. A New Capital for a New Nation" State, nation and ethnicity at the time of independence
Année de publication
2019
Type de document
Article référencé dans le Web of Science WOS:000498432200001
Auteurs
Cunin Elisabeth
Source
Bulletin of Latin American Research, 2019, 39 (3), p. 348-361 ISSN 0261-3050
In Belize, a project for building a new capital emerged in the early 1960s, just after the ravages of Hurricane Hattie, which had destroyed much of the colonial capital, Belize City. According to the common narrative, Belmopan was the answer to a natural threat. But this article will show that it was also a political strategy, intended to give the country a new, modern face, the symbol of a young nation on the road to independence (1981). One of the issues of this post-colonial state is the definition of a national 'us' and the place of ethnic groups inherited from the British colonial administration's policy of 'divide and rule'. The article shows that the politicisation of ethnicity entails neither its integration in the state nor its institutionalisation by the parties, but rather the emergence of 'citizenship from below'.
Plan de classement
Développement économique / Aménagement du territoire [095] ; Urbanisation et sociétés urbaines [102] ; Société, développement social [106]
Description Géographique
BELIZE ; BELMOPAN
Localisation
Fonds IRD [F B010077348]
Identifiant IRD
fdi:010077348
Contact