This thesis explores why ethnicity was introduced as the basis for the reconstitution of the Ethiopian state in 1991, examining the politicisation of ethnic identity before and after the federation of the country’s ‘nations, nationalities and peoples’ was instituted. The establishment of the modern Ethiopian empire state in the nineteenth century, and the processes of centralisation and bureaucratisation which consolidated it in the mid twentieth, provide a backdrop to an emerging concern with ‘regionalism’ amongst political circles in the 1960s and 1970s. Ethnicity operated as both resource and product of the mobilisation by which the major movements of armed opposition to the military regime of the 1970s and 1980s, later the architects of ethnic federalism, sought control of the state. Under federalism through the 1990s, political representation and territorial administration were reorganised in terms of ethnicity. A stratum of the local elite of each ethnic group was encouraged to form an ethnic organisation as a platform for executive office. Meanwhile ethnic groups and their elites responded to these new circumstances in unanticipated but calculative ways, often radically reviewing and reconstructing not only their sense of collective interest, but also the very ethnic collectives that would best serve those newlyperceived interests. The architects of ethnic federalism are influenced by a Marxist formulation of the ‘National Question’ which incorporates contradictory elements inherent in the notion of ‘granting self-determination’: the conviction that self-selected communities respond better to mobilisation ‘from within’, in their own language, by their own people; and the notion that ethnic groups are susceptible to identification, definition, and prescription ‘from above’, by a vanguard party applying a checklist of externally verifiable criteria. These two sets of assumptions correlate with tenets of instrumentalism and primordialism respectively, which are, as they stand, equally irreconcilable. An investigation of theoretical approaches to ethnicity and collective action suggests that many conflate the ‘real world’ and ‘socially constructed’ referents of the ethnic profile of an individual (the constituents of the individual state of being an ethnic x), with the fully constructed collective accomplishment which creates members of an ethnic group (conferring the social status of being an ethnic x, of which those referents are markers). Differentiating the two, and exploring the recursive relationship between them, by means of a consideration of calculative action within the framework of actors’ categories (emerging from emic knowledge systems) and shared social institutions (premised, whether their referents are ‘natural’ ‘social’ or ‘artificial’, on collective processes of ‘knowledge construction’), may improve analysis of the causes and operation of collective action associated with ethnicity and ethno-nationalism. Ethnic federalism in Ethiopia offered the prospect of a shift away from the ‘high modernism’ of that state’s past projects to ‘develop’ its people, apparently in favour of the collective perspectives of groups of its citizens. The coercive and developmental imperatives of the state that guided its implementation, however, have militated against the substantive incorporation of locally determined social institutions and knowledge.

This thesis is an analysis of the interrelationship between international and domestic determinants of state action in Ethiopia in the period 1974 - 1995. It uses an historical materialist framework to show that the Ethiopian state acts to further the interests of domestic merchant capital, and that continuities between successive regimes express a deeper underlying continuity in the structures of the social formation. It discusses the ways in which land reform further entrenched peasants in their existing conditions of production, in response to which the Derg regime undertook to extend state interventions in trade. State involvement in trade has been crucial to the ability of successive regimes to preserve and expand state structures. The alliance with merchant capital which underpinned the state's role in trade explains the decision to nationalise industry. Nationalisation led to a decline in industrial production to the benefit of domestic merchant capital. However the dominance of merchant capital exists alongside low-levels of capital accumulation which renders the state dependent on external alliances and therefore makes regimes highly susceptible to changes at the international level. The low-level of development of the productive forces has retarded the integration of Ethiopia and strengthened regional identities. The resulting fragmentation of power has been an enduring theme of Ethiopian politics. These continuities in underlying structures have contributed to continuities in regime action at the level of the degree of state penetration, the formation of state revenues, and the military basis of regime legitimacy. Finally, it suggests that the model offered here, of a state supporting a domestic merchant class, may be useful in explaining the relationship between states and classes elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

Thesis (B.A.(Hons.)) -- Dept. of History, University of Adelaide, 1970.

Thèse--Geneva.

Thesis (doctoral)--Albertus-Universität zu Königsberg, 1937. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-234).

The relentless political pressure the Ethiopian government put on Ethiopian journalists, political dissidents and opposition activists drove hundreds of them out of their country. However, after leaving their country, the journalists and the opposition activists remain engaged in the politics of their country of origin through the media outlets they establish in diaspora. Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) and Oromia Media Network (OMN) are two media platforms that have emerged in the United States under such conditions. This dissertation chronicles the rise of ESAT and OMN and their far reaching political influence in Ethiopia. Using mixed method research, it provides their detailed profiles that range from their inception, to their impact on the Ethiopian public sphere and the Ethiopian government’s response to them, to their reporting of political events in Ethiopia. This research makes the case that ESAT and OMN, through the instrumentality of a transnational public sphere have altered the Ethiopian political dynamics during the last five years. Particularly, ESAT and OMN use Facebook and Twitter as a backbone to gather information and foster relationships with news sources inside Ethiopia; they also transmit uncensored information back to Ethiopia via satellite television. In response to their communication activities, the Ethiopian government seeks to undermine the links that ESAT and OMN have in the country by routinely blocking the internet, requesting Facebook and Twitter to take down their content and jamming their satellite transmissions. The Ethiopian government also responds to the reporting of ESAT and OMN by changing its policy positions on domestic political issues. This illustrates that Ethiopian political exiles remain key players of Ethiopian political dynamics in ways that thoroughly exemplify trans-local reciprocity. It also shows that ESAT and OMN might very well be a prototype of a diaspora community media that keeps grievances alive and magnifies ideological differences they brought with them to the United States. / 2021-01-11

This study deals primarily with the efforts of Great Britain to bring the Italian-Ethiopian War to a halt through the Hoare-Laval peace plan of December 10, 1935. Based on memoirs, diaries, and public documents, this study is devoted to an examination of the reasons, both internal and external that formulated British foreign policy toward the war.

This thesis examines suicide in Boston's Ethiopian Community. The act of suicide and individual cases are explored through participant narratives. Narratives from family members and acquaintances of those who died by suicide are examined. I rely on in-depth (N=8) and follow-up interviews (N=7). Drawing heavily on culturally constructed notions of self, this thesis explores what it has meant for persons of the Ethiopian community to lose fellow members to suicide. Intersections of emotions, constructions of choice and agency, and idealized notions of self emerge as central themes. The body, in life and death, is situated as a vehicle for communicating dis-eased social relationships and unrealistic cultural expectations. Participants position their perceptions of the deceased in relation to popular preconceived notions of life in the United States and stresses encountered during and after the immigration process. Memory of Ethiopia, the United States, immigration, and the suicide are significant for understanding the rigidity of culturally authoritative truths. This thesis emphasizes the progressive and beneficial methodology of an anthropological investigation into suicide. Understanding the reasons and acquiring specific knowledge about Ethiopian suicide in the United States can contribute to current conversations regarding immigrant suicide. Ultimately, this study aims to contribute to comprehensive prevention measures, which support every individual.

Diaspora communities are becoming an essential part of socioeconomic and political developments of their homeland countries. The problem addressed by this study is that after ethnic federalism was implemented in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian diaspora in the US is divided along ethnic lines, causing human resource management and law enforcement challenges within the communities in the host country. The purpose of this study was to describe the impacts of Ethiopia's ethnic-based federalism on its diaspora residing in a US metropolitan area. The theoretical framework was based on Teshome and ZáhoÅ?ík's theory of ethnic federalism and Safran's theory of diaspora. The key research question examined how ethnic-based federalism in Ethiopia affects perceptions of members of the Ethiopian diaspora in the US. This qualitative ethnographic study included interviews with 15 members of the Ethiopian diaspora community residing in the Washington, DC metro area. The data were thematically coded and analyzed with the help of qualitative data analysis software. Findings revealed that the Ethiopian diaspora in the US is constantly involving in its homeland affairs, although in a fragmented and dis-unified manner. Ethnic-based federalism is not only divisive but also serving as the main source for ethnic bias among the Ethiopian diaspora. Ethnic resentment has surfaced and created a we versus them mentality in every aspect of diaspora's life activities. Recommendations include the Ethiopian government establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and identifying a better form of federalism for the country. The implications for positive social change include integrating voices of the Ethiopian diaspora community in the policy making processes of the home and host governments.

No description available.