Contesting Inequalities Identities And Rights In Ethiopia

This book examines the relationship between inequalities and identities in relation to an unprecedented state advocacy of "ethnic rights" in post-civil war Ethiopia. The analysis is set against the background of a dramatic state remaking by a rebellion movement (the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front - EPRDF) that seized control of the Ethiopian state in 1991, after a decisive battlefield victory over an unpopular regime. The new government of former rebels pledged to institute a new system of ethnic self-governance that celebrated ethnic diversity with a firm pledge to guarantee basic human rights. After twenty-five years in office, however, the Ethiopian government is challenged by the resilience of identity-based inequalities it sought to end, and by protests against its own policies and practices that intensified inequality. The events in Ethiopia, reverberating throughout the Horn of Africa, have inspired polarized debates between academics, policy experts, political activists, and the media. Data D. Barata contributes to this debate through a nuanced ethnographic analysis of why identities with distinct notions of inequality persist, even after being attacked and ideologically repudiated. The contestations and struggles over political representation, local governance, land and religion that the book examines are shaped by the global human rights discourse that has inspired millions of Africans to confront entrenched structures of power. Contesting Inequalities, Identities and Rights in Ethiopia will be of interest to scholars and students in the fields of anthropology, African studies, political science, sociology and cultural studies

Rangeland, forests and riverine landscapes of pastoral communities in Eastern Africa are increasingly under threat. Abetted by states who think that outsiders can better use the lands than the people who have lived there for centuries, outside commercial interests have displaced indigenous dwellers from pastoral territories. This volume presents case studies from Eastern Africa, based on long-term field research, that vividly illustrate the struggles and strategies of those who face dispossession and also discredit ideological false modernist tropes like ‘backwardness’ and ‘primitiveness’.

This book addresses the ways in which writers deploy the trope of contested criminality to expose Zimbabwe's socially and politically oppressive cultures in a wide range of novels and short stories published in English between 1994 and 2016. Some of the most influential authors that are examined in this book are Yvonne Vera, Petina Gappah, NoViolet Bulawayo, Brian Chikwava, Christopher Mlalazi, Tendai Huchu and Virginia Phiri. The author uses the Zimbabwean experience to engage with critical issues facing the African continent and the world, providing a thoughtful reading of contemporary debates on illegal migration, homophobia, state criminality and gender inequalities. The thematic focus of the book represents a departure from what Schulze-Engler notes elsewhere as postcolonial discourse’s habit of suggesting that the legacies of colonialism and the predominance of the ‘global North’ are responsible for injustice in the Global South. Using the context of Zimbabwe, it is shown that colonialism is not the only image of violence and injustice, but that there are other forms of injustice that are of local origin. Throughout the book, it is argued that in speaking about contested criminalities, writers call attention to the fact that laws are violated, some laws are unjust and some crimes are henceforth justified. In this sense crime, (in)justice and the law are portrayed as unstable concepts.

This book analyses the historical sociology of state formation in the Horn of Africa. It examines the genesis, trajectories, processes, routes and consequences of the evolution of state formation. Three analytical and explanatory models explain the process of state formation in the HOA: proto-state, colonial and national liberation. The models, heuristically and innovatively, provide understanding, interpretation and analysis of state formation. While the proto-state model explicates an indigenous historical process of state formation, the colonial model refers to an externally designed and imposed process of state formation. The national liberation model concern state formation conducted under liberation movement and ideology. The distinct significance of these models is that collectively they generate sufficient analysis of state formation. They are also unique in that they have never been employed as aggregate analytical and explicative instruments to address the predicament of state formation in the Horn of Africa.

This book examines environmental sustainability and inclusive economic growth, providing in-depth analysis of foreign direct investment (FDI) in large-scale agriculture in Ethiopia. In most African states, arable land and other natural resources play a pivotal role for economic growth and development. Ethiopia is one of those countries where agriculture is the backbone of the economy. This sector has also been an attraction for FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa since the global food and financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. This book uses six foreign investments in large-scale agriculture as case studies to examine current Ethiopian policies, the patterns of investment they promote, how these impact on land-based resources and communities’ wellbeing. Presenting analyses of the economic, social and political realities of foreign direct investment in the local context, Foreign Direct Investment in Large-Scale Agriculture in Africa discusses how the fundamental principles of pro-poor and environmentally sustainable investments intersect with the government’s ambition to advance Ethiopia’s development agenda. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of African economics and sustainable development, African policy makers, intergovernmental organisations as well as multilateral and bilateral development partners.

Complex Adaptive Systems, Resilience and Security in Cameroon comprehensively maps and analyses Cameroon’s security architecture to determine its resilience. The author examines the key actors involved in Cameroon’s security and evaluates the organisational structures, before analysing the different security systems that arise from the interplay between the two. He also shows how these security networks can be better conceived as complex adaptive systems, interdependent on other environmental, economic and societal systems. In this regard, security actors become security agents. Finally, arguing that security should be pursed from a resilience perspective, this book seeks to comment on the contemporary situation in Cameroon and its possible trajectory for the future. Providing a timely assessment of security in Cameroon, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of African politics and Security Studies.

This book interrogates the sharp contrast that emerged between demands of the norms of international rule of law and the interests of conflict resolution at a local level in northern Uganda. Examining how the nature and character of complex conflict situations like that of northern Uganda confounds the application of transitional justice mechanisms, The International Criminal Court and the Lord’s Resistance Army reveals the enduring dilemmas of transitional justice. Scrutinising the competing interests of punitive approaches to contemporary transitional justice and the political considerations for peace that may entail entering into dialogue with criminals, this book approaches such concepts from the perspective of international standards and the standpoint of the victims. While exploring the complexities of transitional justice processes, the book interrogates prevailing assumptions, proposing a broader conception that places at the centre local structural conditions associated with a conflict. The International Criminal Court and the Lord’s Resistance Army will be of interest to scholars and students of international law, African politics and conflict studies.

This book examines concepts of the border and translation within the context of social and cultural theory through the lens of southern Africa. Borders, Media Crossings and the Politics of Translation studies a diverse range of media representations of borders, imagined borders, border struggles, collectivity boundaries and scenes of translation: films, documentaries, literary texts, photographs, websites and other media texts and artistic interventions. The book makes a case for bringing together media texts and sociocultural experiences across multiple platforms. It argues that this transdisciplinary approach is singularly suited to the age of media convergence, when words, speech, music, videos and images compete for attention on the screens of digital devices where the written, oral, aural and visual are constantly mixed and remixed. But it also reminds the reader of the digital divides linked to socioeconomic, cultural, language and geopolitical borders. With its focus on sociocultural borders and translation, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of media studies, African studies and cultural studies.