After half a century of post-independence nation-building, subnational ethnic and communal identities persist across Africa. Modernisation theory's assumption that tribalism and religious affiliation would be replaced by loyalty to the nation-state did not hold up. Indeed, national citizenship identities often coexist with communal identities in contemporary Africa. In his provocative synthetic book, Keller explores these two simultaneous conceptions of citizenship and the implications for political conflict on the continent.

Using a comparative historical perspective, Keller employs process tracing to analyse how citizenship rights are developed and politicised in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya and Rwanda. Keller draws on theories of the concept of citizenship in order to develop an analytical framework. The framework highlights the historical political context, the nature of civil society, and the ways that political elites mobilise supporters to make claims of citizenship rights, with particular regard to indigenous rights to land, electoral competition, ethnic composition of national government, and perceptions of unequal distribution of public goods. Keller applies this framework in five empirical chapters summarising the relevant political history of the country cases.

The broad argument of the book is that history, institutions and social structures shape the environment in which political leaders make choices about democracy and development. These choices matter for subsequent mobilisation around identity and citizenship issues and for whether such mobilisation will be violent or non-violent. For example, Keller begins the chapter on Cote d'Ivoire by highlighting how substantial southward migration during the colonial period is linked to contemporary citizenship conflicts. After independence, President Houphouët-Boigny did not institutionalise procedures to establish citizenship because he relied on support from the country's migrant population to retain political power. After the economic crisis of the 1980s and Houphouët-Boigny's death, demands for land rights and the increasing competitiveness of multiparty politics led to heightened mobilisation around citizenship. Ivoirian political leaders and ethnic entrepreneurs promoted strict policies based on exclusionary definitions of citizenship. These exclusionary policies subsequently led to two civil wars as the political opposition fought for the institutionalisation of procedures that would allow those without identity documents to claim their citizen rights.

The strength of the book is that it forces us to investigate what is meant by ‘citizenship’ in particular historical and political contexts in Africa. As Keller shows, the accountability and political will of a country's executive remains crucial in reducing the potential for citizenship conflicts. Future work could use Keller's framework to analyse cases where executive leadership may have prevented the outbreak of violent conflict. Such a study would complement Keller's work and aid in the identification of processes that mitigate contention when the potential for violent conflict exists.

This book would certainly be useful in graduate seminars on African politics, African history or ethnic politics. It is written in a clear, straightforward style that also makes it appropriate for use in advanced undergraduate classes. Keller also offers insights for policymakers and development practitioners who continue to grapple with the real-world consequences of citizenship conflicts. The development of conceptualisations of nationalism that recognise and tolerate different identities within the nation state remains a pertinent policy concern in Africa and beyond.