Elections for a national parliament had been organized under previous regimes, but the country had no. This list may not reflect recent changes learn more. Ethiopia is much more than the sum of all the political parties and ethnic groups. Mar 29, 20 that is mainly why we do not see any promising development both from ethiopia and abroad. Both in snnprs and tigray, there is no regionally based free press.
Ethnic identity and ethnic relations in the post 1991 ethiopia. Actors, power and mobilisation under ethnic federalism to the african studies seminar at oxford university below. Consciousness of ethnic identity may develop or harden within a political system structured along ethnic lines, and may. The imperial period 1974 ethiopia is the only african state never colonised by a foreign power. Conversations about change cease to center on shared concern like justice, human rights and democracy and turn to disputes over ethnicity. Ethnic federalism is a federal system of national government in which the federated units are. The adoption of ethnic federalism in ethiopia was closely related with the problem of creating a state structure that could be used as instrument of managing the complex ethnolinguistic diversity of the country. While reading this paper, which i prepared for the forum on ethnicity and national identity in ethiopia, organized by the ethiopian students association at harvard, i ask the reader to bear in mind that my critical evaluation of ethnic movements does not signify that ethnicity should be ignored or suppressed. However, that public schooling in ethiopia was available to only a small minority of the population.
Ethiopia s population is highly diverse with different languages and ethnic groups. Abdi ismail samatar 2008 ethiopian ethnic federalism and. Politics in ethiopia ethiopian federalism and 2015 national elections. That is mainly why we do not see any promising development both from ethiopia and abroad. Ethnic politics and its effect on democracy in ethiopia by. Republic of ethiopiahereafter fdre, 1995, article 91. From the north to the south, the range in types of social system, dress, diet and languages far exceeds that.
Ethnic federalism and its discontents crisis group africa report n153, 4 september 2009 page 2 ii. Actors, power and mobilization under ethnic federalism, e. Actors, power and mobilisation under ethnic federalism. The basic research question focuses on how these representations can be explained. Article pdf available in the journal of modern african studies. Ethnic identity and the relations of amhara, ormo and tigray. The objective of the research is to investigate the representation of ethiopian politics in selected amharic novels.
Political socialization in the era of globalization in. The oromo, amhara, somali and tigrayans make up more than threequarters 75% of the population. Drivers of ethnic conflict in contemporary ethiopia aws. From the north to the south, the range in types of social system, dress, diet and languages far exceeds that to be found elsewhere in the world. Ethiopia as a nation, defining it as an obsolete empirestate, a prison house of peoples. As a result, all ethiopian ethnic groups more than 80, were. My parents are from different regions of the country amhara and oromia, while i make a living in addis abeba. Ethiopia in the past, their substantial population, and some evidence of ongoing. Political violence and democratic uncertainty in ethiopia jstor. The politics of ethnicity in ethiopia democracy in africa. So the preliminary question one should raise at this point is why the ethiopian state, as opposed to the society, remained unitarist, as opposed to pluralist, for so titled after donald n. Nationalism, nationality and regionalism in ethiopia c. Ethiopia is a diverse country, with more than 70 linguisticcultural groups.
Over the past two years, ethiopia has experienced both rapid political liberalisation. This book examines the impact of the federal restructuring of ethiopia on ethnic conflicts. Pdf one of the core principles instituted by the post1991 government in. As noted above, ethnicity played an important part in the creation of the nine regional states. Ethnic politics in ethiopia and the church shibeshi, yoseph on. More specifically, the government tried to realise an overlap between ethnic and territorial boundaries. Most governments in africa, seeing the political mobilisation of ethnicity as a threat, have rejected the use of ethnic differences as an explicit basis for political representation. This chapter aims at providing a general background about the politics of. Population distribution of ethiopia pdf percentage distribution of population of ethiopia by pedoman praktis bermain bulutangkis pdf broad age. Since coming to power, the tplfeprdf regime has thoroughly politicized ethnicity and ethnicized politics. Ethiopias economy, decentralise its state, and democratise its politics have. Hence, the reconstitution of ethiopia into an ethnic federation poses sets of opportunities and challenges.
It traces its origin to the kingdoms that emerged in the northern highlands in the fourth century. If it is true that the italians called it the peoples museum, my family can be a testimony to it. Nov 09, 2012 ethnicity and ethnic politics in ethiopia by seble teweldebirhan addis ababa, november 9, 2012 nowadays, when someone tries to be less sensitive about ethnicity, heshe is considered unsympathetic to the rights of marginalized groups and their rightful issues. Consequently, in ethiopia today, to be born into an ethnic group by chance is to take a. Population distribution of ethiopia pdf population distribution of ethiopia pdf population distribution of ethiopia pdf download. Ayichew abstract ethiopia is a multiethnic nation with cultural differences between its component ethnic groups. Pastoralists, ethnicity and the state in ethiopia 9781874209423. Ethnicity, economic conditions, and opposition support. Addis ababa the politics of this independent east african country is characterized by mainly a monarchical system for thousands of years, throughout which powerful and visionary emperors such as emperor tewodrose and emperor minilik had led the country. Pdf ethnicbased federalism and ethnicity in ethiopia. Place of diversity in the current ethiopian education and. The ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf, led by its chairman and prime minister, meles zenawi, has radically reformed ethiopias political system.
The transfer of power from military to civilian rule was therefore cosmetic. Ethiopias political transition began in the early 1990s with the fall of the socialist military. The university of oxford is one of the worlds leading centres for the study of africa. The main change was that the country was divided into nine ethnicallybased states. Politics the federal democratic republic of ethiopia is described in its constitution, drafted in 2004, as. If the opposition really care about and for ethiopian politics, they must think and act out of their boxes their ethnicity. Ethnic nationalism and the gondar protests an analysis on what the rising ethnic nationalism among the historically powerful amhara means for the countrys future.
Download fulltext pdf ethnic federalism in ethiopia. Lakew phd politics of ethnicity is a primordial thinking and mode of existence but in contemporary society it is a disguised pseudo political movement that has no social basis in its origin but designed purposely to emotionally manipulate and drive members to be sensational loyal fighters, nonreasoning and thinking human beings, to the movement, in order few canny power. Politics in ethiopia ethiopian federalism and 2015 national. Actors, power and mobiliza tion under ethnic federalism, is made up of a laconic preface, eight. May 16, 2012 download the podcast of lovise aalens talk on the politics of ethnicity in ethiopia. In summary, considering the growth of ethnic sentiment in the last quarter of a century and the prior situation that culminated to the power shift in 1991, we need to consider ethnic federalism that is built on a nondispensable ethiopia, with no room for ethnic politics or proxy identity politics. It also allowed a free press to flourish and sought. Ethiopia is a multiethnic nation with cultural differences between its component ethnic groups. The one prominent exception is ethiopia, which since 1991 has imposed a system of ethnicbased federalism that offers each ethnic group the right of self. For more details refer to sarah vaughan 2003 ethnicity and power in ethiopia, university of edinburgh.
In every faculty and division across the university there are active research programmes focused on the continent. Most of its people speak an ethiosemitic or cushitic language which are both part of the afroasiatic language family, while others speak nilosaharan languages. Though i was predisposed toward the ethiopia i had studied since the late 1950s, i appreciated that within its. The representation of ethiopian politics in selected. Politics related to ethiopia has become so heavily ethnicized that we have a difficult time distinguishing between ideology and identity. Zenawi, has radically reformed ethiopias political sys tem. In addition, the same constitution underscores education shall be provided in a manner that is free from any religious influence, political partisanship or cultural prejudices article 90. Ethiopia is a multinational country with about 85 ethnolinguistic groups and since the. Downloaded by universiteit leiden lumc, jon abbink at 02. This tension is still present, as is evident from the numerous recent clashes and conflicts in the country. Ethnicity and ethnic politics in ethiopia by seble teweldebirhan addis ababa, november 9, 2012 nowadays, when someone tries to be less sensitive about ethnicity, heshe is considered unsympathetic to the rights of marginalized groups and their rightful issues.
Federalism is often cited as the most effective way to manage ethnic tensions because it promises to give communities a degree of selfgovernment and it means that groups that lose out in. The one prominent exception is ethiopia, which since 1991 has imposed a system of ethnicbased federalism that offers each ethnic group the right of selfdetermination. International law and transitional governance critical perspectives. The representation of ethiopian politics in selected amharic.
The oromo, amhara, somali and tigrayans make up more than threequarters 75% of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups. The course includes theoretical and multicountry studies of ethnic politics and also includes indepth case studies of nigeria, the united states, southern africa, india, and sudan. Download the podcast of lovise aalens talk on the politics of ethnicity in ethiopia. Ethiopias population is highly diverse with different languages and ethnic groups.
Politics in ethiopia ethiopian federalism and 2015. The regime transformed the hitherto centralised state into the federal democratic republic and also redefined citizenship, politics and identity on ethnic grounds. Lets talk about ethnicity and nationalism in ethiopia. The culture of power in contemporary ethiopian political. More recently in 1988 his much acclaimed work revolutionary ethiopia was published by the cambridge university press. Situated in the horn of africa, ethiopia is bordered by eritrea to the north, sudan to the west, kenya to the south, somalia to the east and djibouti to the northeast.
Democracy and the politics of ethnicity walle engedayehu after more than a decade and a half of devastating civil war, a dramatic turn of events took place in ethiopia in may 1991, culminating in the ouster of former marxist leader mengistu haile mariam and his dergdominated regime. Ethnic federalism and its discontents crisis group. Pages in category politics of ethiopia the following 11 pages are in this category, out of 11 total. Ethiopias first multiparty elections were held in 1995, after a constitution was adopted the previous year. In 1991 ethiopia accommodated ethnicity as a formal political element in the. Ethiopias evolving party system ethiopias current party system began to take form in 1991. Jun 22, 2011 most governments in africa, seeing the political mobilisation of ethnicity as a threat, have rejected the use of ethnic differences as an explicit basis for political representation. Ethiopia is a multinational country with about 85 ethnolinguistic groups and since the 1960s, it suffered from ethnoregional conflicts.