The aim of this thesis is analysing the way in which second-generation Eritreans in Bologna re-construct their Eritrean identity. The originality of the thesis is the fact that this type of research has not been done in Bologna yet: Bologna is a multicultural city where its left-wing tradition has appreciated cultural differences differently from other cities in Italy, such as Milan.To reach the aim of the thesis I interviewed some second-generations Eritreans who were born and grew up in Italy. I also used some previous researches that have been conducted in Italy and abroad about the re-creation of second-generation Eritreans’ identity. The whole research is framed in a theoretical framework, which is composed by the definition of four concepts that are useful for the research; these concepts are: culture, identity, nation, and, diaspora.According to this study, there are many ways in which second-generation Eritreans shape their identity in Bologna. The main ways in which second-generation Eritreans shape their Eritrean identity in Bologna are: the encounter with other Eritreans, their parents’ roots, the language, and the holiday trips back to Eritrea.

The control of the eritrean refugees and the diaspora-tax in SwedenThe purpose of this thesis was to study how the Eritrean government successfully mobilizedand extracted the 2% tax from the diaspora that left the country in protest of its governance.The chosen group of the diaspora, has been the eritreans who left Eritrea after the politicalcrisis in 2001 and currently live in Sweden. Twelve semi-structured interviews wereconducted and the material was analyzed with the theoretical framework of transnationalism.The empirical findings were analyzed with a thematic analysis where three themes wereidentified. The study showed that the Eritrean government controls the diaspora by usingdifferent tools and threats to silence them and to contribute with taxes. The members of thediaspora who are not able to meet the requirements of the government including paying thediaspora tax, are perceived as traitors. Furthermore, they are isolated and live under constantpressure in an insecure environment, while those who contribute with taxes are seen asheroes. Additionally, the government has implemented trust issues among diaspora inSweden, where some members work by reporting to the embassy in order to earn respect andbetter services.

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Eritrean art and material culture has not been accorded its rightful pace, neither has it been sufficiently isolated from its Ethiopian counterparts. Like the other reconstruction challenges facing Eritrea, following the 30 years' war for independence, the field of art and culture is in need of reconstruction. This study aimed to contextualize selected Eritrean material culture in terms of social, cultural, historical, art-historical and iconographic values. The selected artefacts have been studied in terms of construction, tactility of materials, iconography and functionality of the objects' form and surface. This dissertation provides a photographic documentation of the study samples. Results of this study indicate that makers of Eritrean material culture primarily aimed at the functional values of most of the objects instead of the aesthetic values. This is clearly shown on the form of the objects which describe the function. The makers produced the material culture to their own taste, reflecting the culture or religion they represent. The study samples are taken from the Ethnographic Section of the National Museum of Eritrea (NME). This study investigated museum practices, including challenges and limitations, as well as future plans of the NME. Information was elicited from knowledgeable individuals, fieldwork data collection, secondary sources and visual analysis of the study sample. The study recommended that this young institution (NME) needs to be empowered by the Government and solve its problems, so as to play a major role in reconstructing Eritrean cultural identity and preserving cultural heritage. In addition, research centres should be established to work on the process of the documentation and construction of Eritrean art history. Besides training individuals, the research centre should organize national and international conferences, conduct workshops and organize, recognize and encourage artists. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

In this research, the researcher is analysing the models of development in Ethiopia on ADLI policy after the Ethio-Eritrean War of 1998-2000. As a post- conflict country it is always important to know how a country reconstructs its economy after the war. The researcher will give a brief background of Ethiopia with her different regime changes. Ethiopia is a landlocked country and is found in the Horn of Africa. Her boarders are Eritrea on the north and north east, and Djibouti and Somalia on the East, Kenya on the south, on the west and south west by Sudan. (BCC) Ethiopia has been under three remarkably different political regimes; the feudal imperial era under Emperor Haile Selassie; the socialist military dictatorship of Colonel Mangistu’s Derg; and the marketoriented Western aligned democracy of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.(Devereux et al,2005:121 ) Each regime had applied different policies on agriculture which employs 80 percent of the population. Feudal policies where the land was in the hands of the landlords failed during Selassie’s regime and this was proved by the famine of 1974. He was overthrown by Derg in a coup in 1974. Derg introduced a “radical agrarian transformation based on land redistribution. His policies on agriculture were based on the Marxist egalitarian ideology and by conviction that feudal relations in agriculture had exposed millions of highland Ethiopians to intolerable levels of poverty and vulnerability.” (Devereux et al, 2005:121-122). According to Derg’s agricultural policy land was confiscated from the landlords and was redistributed to the rural farmers and it was trying to break inequalities over land control and it aimed at achieving agricultural productivity and rural incomes. Derg’s regime was overthrown by Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991. EPRDF further continued with land redistribution in the wake of 1990s and it gave farmlands to demobilised soldiers and tried to correct the inequalities that emerged with time as farming families were growing. (Devereux et al, 2005:122) In all these regimes, land was owned by the state. Ethiopian economy is based on agriculture which contributes 47 percent to GNP and more than 80 percent of exports, and employs 85 percent of the population. Ethiopia’s agriculture is plagued by periodic droughts, soil degradation emanating from poor agricultural practices and overgrazing, deforestation, high population density, underdeveloped water resources and poor transport infrastructure which makes extremely difficult and expensive to get goods to the market. (BCC, 07) The EPRDF came up with the new agricultural policy in the beginning of 1991 and it was known as Agriculture Development Led Industrialisation (ADLI). ADLI is the policy that emphasised on modernising smallholder agriculture and intensifying yield productivity through the supply of appropriate technology, certified seeds, fertilizers, rural credit facilities and technical assistance. (Getachew, 2003:9) This policy introduced some reforms in agriculture as it introduced a nationwide agricultural extension program, the propagation of laws that liberalised the purchasing and distribution of inputs and to increase and to make credit facilities available to rural farmers. In 1995 Minister of Agriculture (MoA) introduced a vehicle to drive the policy, which was called the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PADETES). The PADETES started with 32047 farmers on board. The aim was to educate farmers in new farming methods which will increase productivity and make farmers self sufficient. Agriculture Sample Survey 2009/10 states that ‘country’s experience showed that farmers’ attitude and tendency to adapt and accept new innovations, modern agricultural techniques and technologies, such as use of fertilizers, irrigation, improved seeds and pesticides that help to improve their living standards through attaining enhanced productivity, do have positive impact on the development on the agricultural sector as a whole.’(Central Statistical Agency, 2010: i) Teshome (2006:1) shows complexity of Ethiopian agriculture when he says that it largest contributor to the GDP, exports and foreign earnings and it employs almost 85 percent of the population. On the contrary, despite its socio-economic importance its performance continues to be low due to many natural and manmade factors which will be discussed in this research.

Since the inception of the modern state, civil-military relationships have been an important and critical factor of stability for the state. The nature and quality of the relationship between the civilian and military leaders can assist a state with bringing forth a peaceful environment or plaguing the citizens of that state with endless suffering which is synonymous with armed conflicts. As we can witness in our world, in Africa, Europe, Latin America or the Middle East armed conflicts have been an integral part of politics and international relations between states    In this thesis, I shall examine the civil-military relationship within the Eritrean armed forces. I will use the state of Eritrea as my case study. The fundamental rationale for me selecting Eritrea as my case for this study is based upon the miniscule amount of academic research regarding the civil-military relationship within the Eritrean armed forces. This thesis will strive to generate a broader understanding of the relationship between the civilian leaders and military leaders of the state of Eritrea and how that relationship affects the Eritrean armed forces on the battlefield. The theoretical framework I shall apply to inquire into the civil-military relationship within the Eritrean armed forces, will be the theories of Objective civilian control and Subjective civilian control. While applying a qualitative case study method for this thesis. The thesis finds that the civil-military relationship structure within the Eritrean armed forces have been revolving around the president, Isaias Afwerki. Afwerki routinely micromanages the affairs of the military.

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This research study explores how ten Eritrean refugees living in Pretoria, South Africa, make sense of their refugee identity in individual interviews. Discursive analysis was employed as a methodology to capture the different ways of talking (interpretative repertoires) about their institutionally-ascribed refugee identity, their experiences as refugees and alternative identities which the refugees discursively constructed in their interaction with the researcher. The study was motivated to provide the refugees, as a marginalized social group, a platform for expressing their agency. Six men and four women were recruited for the study using a convenience sampling technique. Analysis resulted in the identification of five dominant and two less dominant interpretative repertoires. The dominant interpretative repertoires were as follows: ‘we have rights’ repertoire; ‘accept who you are’ repertoire; ‘they target you’ repertoire; ‘I am secure: they can’t deport me’ repertoire and ‘we are misunderstood as criminals’ repertoire. The two less dominant repertoires were: ‘our refugee identity is transient’ repertoire and ‘I am lost; I don’t have a country any more’ repertoire. The findings of such varied, contradictory and inconsistent ways of talking by the participants about their refugee identity demonstrate a challenge to previous empirical studies conducted on the experiences and identities of Eritrean refugees in different settings which treated participant accounts as consistent and coherent. Furthermore, the results of the study defy dominant discourses about refugees which describe them as voiceless and without agency. / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / am2014 / Sociology / unrestricted

This diploma thesis deals with one of the aspects of armed groups' governance, namely the institutions that are created or used by armed groups and the role these institutions play in the military-civilian relations. The case study chosen is the Eritrean People's Liberation Front. This armed group was formed in 1973 in the context of the struggle for Eritrea's independence, and in the next decades it created a management system that included taxation, political committees, education, health care, and dispute settlement mechanisms. After the establishment of independent Eritrea in 1993, ELOF evolved into the People's Front for Democracy and Justice, which still remains a ruling Eritrean political party. The primary aim of the thesis is to answer the question of the role played by institutions created by non-state armed groups in building their relations with the civilian population. He is also marginally devoted to the development of Eritrea after independence.