This study assesses the impact of a large, state-sponsored sugar plantation scheme on agro-pastoralists’ livelihoods and local land use change in southern Ethiopia, specifically in the lower Omo... Show moreThis study assesses the impact of a large, state-sponsored sugar plantation scheme on agro-pastoralists’ livelihoods and local land use change in southern Ethiopia, specifically in the lower Omo Valley. The study compares the local perceptions on the ongoing Omo-Kuraz sugar project — sugar cane plantations and a cane-crushing factory — and describes how it has affected local communities’ environmental and livelihood strategies vis-à-vis the alleged ‘new development opportunities’. Focus group discussion, key informant interviews, and field observations were applied to get in-depth information about the socio-economic and environmental impacts of large scale land acquisitions. The results show that the implementation of large scale land acquisitions in the lower Omo Valley has put enormous pressure on local land use and land management systems. The Omo-Kuraz I and II projects, started in 2011, neither met the stated economic purposes of the then Ethiopian federal government nor satisfied the pastoral communities’ needs. The LSAI project is still highly contentious among the local community, the project office, and the local government. Our study recommends that shifting the perspective towards the local agropastoralists’ activities, understanding their views and ways of ‘using’ the environment, and creating a broader consultation platform with them may create opportunities for cooperation and synergy to optimize benefits and sustainably adapt the development project to the local context. Show less
J. Abbink produced a new bibliography on Ethiopian-Eritrean studies in society and history. It is a by- product of research he did on these countries in the past five years and is the ultimate... Show moreJ. Abbink produced a new bibliography on Ethiopian-Eritrean studies in society and history. It is a by- product of research he did on these countries in the past five years and is the ultimate volume in the series. The volume covers the period from 2016 to July 2022 and contains all the crucial references to recent work in history, archaeology, sociology, anthropology, economics, agricultural studies, politics, international relations, environmental studies, religious and cultural studies. Also prominent are themes like the Nile Basin, (regional) conflict, food (in)security, gender relations, demographic developments, urban life, arts & crafts, and pastoral societies.A brief introduction situates the bibliography in the wider field of Ethiopian-Eritrean studies and clarifies the underlying criteria of inclusion and organization of the references. As much as possible, the individual references also contain a link to their digital publication website. The work is concluded with an author name index and is published as an E-book only. Show less
This study has examined traditional coping systems, emerging adaptation strategies and barriers to the adoption of these strategies. Structured questionnaires on coping and adaptation strategies... Show moreThis study has examined traditional coping systems, emerging adaptation strategies and barriers to the adoption of these strategies. Structured questionnaires on coping and adaptation strategies were conducted among Nyangatom households, expounded by focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Correlations between times series (1987–2016) on rainfall, temperature and the local perceptions on CC were examined. The time series analysis confirmed pastoralists' perception that the frequency of extreme drought has increased since 1987. The Nyangatom responded by temporal migration and herd diversification. Other responses include flood cultivation and enhancing alliance formation with other ethnic groups. Multi-nominal logistic regression analyses indicated that age of household head (−), livestock ownership (+), crop productivity (+), off-farm income (+) and access to climate information (+) proved to be key determinants with a statistically significant (negative or positive) effect on adoption. Other factors that hindered climate change adaption include intermittent conflicts with neighbouring ethnic groups and limited access to alternative livelihood options. Interventions to facilitate transition towards sustainable, adaptation-based communities need to incorporate deliberate, longer-term, risk-reducing strategies, including rangeland management, water harvesting and small scale-irrigation schemes. Improved education access, extension services, and a conducive pastoral policy environment will help to enhance the Nyangatom adaptive capacity. Show less
In Ethiopia, as elsewhere in Africa, the boundaries of political belonging have always shifted. They continue to do so. Since the 1995 constitution, in a both peculiar and complex manner, ethnicity... Show moreIn Ethiopia, as elsewhere in Africa, the boundaries of political belonging have always shifted. They continue to do so. Since the 1995 constitution, in a both peculiar and complex manner, ethnicity has been included in the apparatus of rights and practices, with often far-reaching consequences for Ethiopian nation-building. Since 1991, citizenship in Ethiopia can hardly be discussed without reference to the post-1991 ethnofederal system, which was the result of the restructuring of domestic politics based on ethnolinguistic criteria. This reformation of the administrative landscape altered interethnic relations, and although justified as an answer to an age-old national question about belonging, and a guarantor for interethnic peace and justice, problems have abounded. In this article, we analyze Ethiopian citizenship in the wider context of global debates on “cultural citizenship.” We examine the bifurcated Ethiopian approach to national and regional citizenship and the language of cultural rights in a historical perspective both as continued subject-making as well as a form of claims-making. Focusing on citizenship and the powers that manifest social boundaries through cultural ascription, we circumvent both the instrumentalist and primordialist gaze on ethnicity and multiculturalism. Ethnicity appears as a reservoir and idiom of political appropriation within an evolving system of state-subject relations that has left the status of citizenship unresolved. Show less
Religiously inspired violence is a global phenomenon and connects to transnational narratives, necessitating comparative analysis of socio-historical context and patterns of ideological... Show moreReligiously inspired violence is a global phenomenon and connects to transnational narratives, necessitating comparative analysis of socio-historical context and patterns of ideological mobilization. Northeast Africa hosts several radical-extremist and terrorist groups, mostly of Muslim persuasion, tuned in to these global narratives while connecting to local interests. Christian radicalism and violence also occur but are less ideologically consistent and less widespread. I examine key aspects of the current role and ideological self-positioning of Islamist radicalism in state contexts, comparing Somalia, affected by Islamist violence since the late 1990s, and Ethiopia, where Islam's mobilization followed a different path and where the state so far contained politicization and open radicalism of Muslim groups. A brief contrastive case from Nigeria is also provided. It is observed that Islam, while of course not ‘equaling’ violence, easily provides a militant political theology, frequently instrumentalized in conflicts and situations of (perceived) grievance, and via mimetic rivalry then becomes radically ideological. Securitized response patterns of state authorities toward militancy play a role in furthering violent radicalization. I follow a sociological-anthropological approach but also refer to key aspects of national-legal frameworks regarding state and religion, next to societal and political bases of Muslim militant mobilization for collective aims and self-presentation. Show less
‘Good governance’ has been defined as a necessary condition for (economic) ‘growth’ and ‘development’ not only in in developing world but also in the wealthier, developed nations. This paper seeks... Show more‘Good governance’ has been defined as a necessary condition for (economic) ‘growth’ and ‘development’ not only in in developing world but also in the wealthier, developed nations. This paper seeks to sociologically explore the ‘articulation’ of the ideology of good governance of the post-1991 Ethiopian federal state with versions of legitimate authority, just rule, accountability, economic fairness, etc. with reference to some local ethnic societies in Southern Ethiopia. Similarities and differences will be discussed so as to show that the concept of ‘good governance’ is multi-dimensional and ambivalent, evoking local notions (and expectations) of a just order and the rule of fairness among citizens as well. In the context of Ethiopia, its constant reiteration as a policy aim may thus also have contributed to citizens’ renewed claim-making as well as their rediscovering their own (cultural) notions of just governance. Show less
The 2015 elections in Ethiopia had a predictable outcome, showing an entrenched system of one-party dominance that self-referentially enacts the political order created by the Ethiopian People’s... Show moreThe 2015 elections in Ethiopia had a predictable outcome, showing an entrenched system of one-party dominance that self-referentially enacts the political order created by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) since 1991. EPRDF spokespersons continued to defend the party’s hegemony as inevitable, grounded in a logic of technocratic authority and with reference to ‘stability’ and ‘development’. This paper describes the electoral process not in the light of democracy theory but of hegemonic governance theory. Elections seem to have lost relevance in Ethiopia as a means of political expression and are only important as a performance of hegemonic governance and as ‘global impression management’ – showing state skills in securing a smooth electoral process as a major organisational feat in itself. Contradictions that the political process creates between the Ethiopian party-state and domestic constituencies, and between the attitudes/policies of certain donor countries, are downplayed or avoided, but problematic in the long run. Show less
In this paper I discuss food, cultural identity and development among the agropastoral Suri people of Southwest Ethiopia. Their food system is discussed in its actual form and in its process of... Show moreIn this paper I discuss food, cultural identity and development among the agropastoral Suri people of Southwest Ethiopia. Their food system is discussed in its actual form and in its process of change, accelerated since a decade or so. The theoretical concern of this paper is with issues of identity formation and continuity through the materiality of food and food systems, in the context of varying assumptions underlying discourses of development. The Suri people remain at the margins of the modernizing Ethiopian state and experienced a decline in food security, health and wealth in the last decade, coinciding with growing inter-group tension and new state developmental plans which devalue the agro-pastoral mode of life. State support or investment is in massive sugar and other mono-crop plantations and in enterprises by foreigners and private capitalists, not matched by parallel investment in local economies of agro-pastoralism and crop cultivation. Some of the effects on the production system, diet and ‘food sovereignty’ of the Suri are described so as to highlight the challenges they face, including growing internal differentiation, pressure on modifying their food system and the increasing sale and use of alcoholic drinks. Observing the, often ambivalent, changes in the Suri food pattern and food consumption shows the challenges they face in (re)defining group identity, responding to internal tensions and to state-capitalist modernizing schemes that impact their way of life. Show less
This work is another instalment of a scholarly bibliography in the social sciences and history of Ethiopia and Eritrea, produced at the African Studies Centre (University of Leiden). It is the... Show moreThis work is another instalment of a scholarly bibliography in the social sciences and history of Ethiopia and Eritrea, produced at the African Studies Centre (University of Leiden). It is the fifth and last publication by the author on this subject, and is only published as an E-book (The other volumes - of 1991, 1995, 2003 and 2010 – were first published in print form). The bibliography gives a representative choice of the most important and insightful scholarly contributions (and also some of the more ‘popular’ material written for wider audiences) of the past five years, which have seen a notable acceleration of work and many new insights into the dynamics of the North-East African region. While fairly complete on a number of themes, citing the most authoritative titles, the work is obviously not exhaustive in its coverage. It provides, nonetheless, an essential starting point for research work, reference and teaching on the societies, culture and history of Northeast Africa. Show less
This essay discusses the continued importance that religion holds in African life, not only in terms of numbers of believers, but also regarding the varieties of religious experience and its links... Show moreThis essay discusses the continued importance that religion holds in African life, not only in terms of numbers of believers, but also regarding the varieties of religious experience and its links with politics and the "public sphere(s)". Coinciding with the wave of democratization and economic liberalization efforts since about 1990, a notable growth of the public presence of religion and its political referents in Africa has been witnessed; alongside "development", religion will remain a hot issue in the future political trajectory of the continent. Its renewed presence in public spheres has also led to new understandings of what religion means and how it figures into both "world-making" and identity politics. This will prolong the challenges associated with the role and status of religion in the "secular state model" found in most African countries. Can these states, while "besieged" by believers, maintain neutrality among diverse worldviews, and if so, how? The paper discusses these issues in a general manner with reference to African examples, some taken from fieldwork by the author, and makes a philosophical argument for the development of a new kind of "secular state" that can respect the religious commitments of African populations. Show less
The 2011-2014 controversies between the Ethiopian Government and Muslim communities on the role of Islam in Ethiopia have highlighted the precarious nature of religious relations in Ethiopia.... Show moreThe 2011-2014 controversies between the Ethiopian Government and Muslim communities on the role of Islam in Ethiopia have highlighted the precarious nature of religious relations in Ethiopia. Statements by public figures and religious leaders recently have drawn attention to the nature and scope of the Ethiopian secular state order. This paper describes the recent Muslim protest movement and the response to it by the government in the light of the secular state model. While the challenges to it also extend to the large Christian community in Ethiopia, the problems became prominent mainly in the case of the Muslims, who contest perceived 'government interference' in their community life and self-organization. I present an overview of key recent events and of factors inducing conflict between state and religion. The discussion makes reference to more general debates on the 'secular model' in Ethiopia and to the familiar though somewhat worn-out paradigm of 'identity politics'. State repression of Muslim civic protest in Ethiopia revealed insecurities of the state: rather than an instance of the process of 'othering' a religious community, we see a case of political crisis, and a search for new modes of governance of diversity and communal religiosity in Ethiopia. As a result of the contestations, however, the secular order of the country will not be threatened, but modified. Show less
Somalië zit nog steeds in de frontlijn van 'jihadisme', politieke instabiliteit en humanitaire crisis. In het proces naar politieke stabilisering is Al-Shabaab een enorme stoorzender. Deze... Show moreSomalië zit nog steeds in de frontlijn van 'jihadisme', politieke instabiliteit en humanitaire crisis. In het proces naar politieke stabilisering is Al-Shabaab een enorme stoorzender. Deze beweging, eind 2005 ontstaan, heeft een overwegend criminele agenda, 'gelegitimeerd' door de Islam. Militaire maatregelen om de excessen van Al Shabaab te elimineren zijn een noodzakelijke maar niet voldoende voorwaarde om politieke, economische en educatieve oplossingen voor de Somalische crisis te ontwikkelen. Show less
