Description
Book SynopsisMost 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. The one prominent exception is Ethiopia, which since 1991 has imposed a system of ethnic-based federalism that offers each ethnic group the right of ‘self-determination’. This book provides a detailed empirical study of this system at work in the complex multiethnic environment of southern Ethiopia. It finds that ethnic self-rule, in combination with the power politics of an authoritarian regime, has produced both intended and unintended outcomes. While arguably easing large-scale ethnic conflicts, it has led to ‘ethnicisation’ of local socioeconomic disputes and to sharper inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic divides, often to the disadvantage of historically marginalised groups.
Table of ContentsCONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgements ...................................................... vii Abbreviations ..................................................................................... xi Selected Glossary ............................................................................... xiii List of Maps and Tables ................................................................... xv Chapter One Introduction: The Limits of Institutions in Multiethnic Societies ..................................................................... 1 Chapter Two ‘National Self-Determination’: Federalism the Ethiopian Way ............................................................................... 25 Chapter Three The Historical Trajectories of Local Ethnic Polities: The Sidama and the Wolayta ....................................... 55 Chapter Four Ethnic Politics in Play: Implementing Self-Determination in a South Ethiopian Context .................. 95 Chapter Five Crafting Ethnic Politics: The Formation of Parties in Sidama and Wolayta ................................................... 109 Chapter Six Dealing with Local Minorities: The Persistence of Discriminatory Practices under Ethnic Federalism ............ 127 Chapter Seven Identities or Resources at Stake? Controversies on National Self-Determination in Sidama and Wolayta ................................................................................... 147 Chapter Eight Conclusion: The Facets of Ethnic Federalism 179 References ........................................................................................... 195 Index ....................................................................................................203
