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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
Ethiopian Dilemma, The Genesis of Ethnic politics, the aftermath and the Road to modernity
| Panel |
89. Makers of the Ethiopian Political Crisis
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| Paper ID | 750 |
| Author(s) |
Wudufanta, Haimanot
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | 17 September 1969 a second year student by the name Walleligne Mekonen wrote a very provocative and short article entitled 'On the Question of Nationalities in Ethiopia' on the then organ of USUAA which was called Struggle, This article though was limited in its depth, ignited a heated debate on which comes first in Marxian paradox of the 'primary contradiction' the national question or Class struggle. Even though it is was some 42 years ago that this article was written, throughout and until now this idea laid the ideological basis for political mobilisation in Ethiopia. According Sara Vaughan, the author of 'Ethnicity and Power in Ethiopia', 'The National Question' and the body politics which emerged there after including many of those which continue to do so could be traced back to the Wlalleligne's idea and his generation. According Teshale Tibebu, the Ethiopian student generation of the 1970's were the most radical student movement in Africa, and one of the most radical in the world. Its radicalism was par with that of the Iranian students. Above all, it was also influenced by Marxist ideology in which the various spectrums such as the 'National Question' and shades stemmed from a sympathetic encounter with Marxist theory.
In order to analyze the ideals of that generation one needs to investigate two very important issues mainly 1. the intellectual roots of Marxism 2. the intellectual roots of Ethiopian modern education. On both issues one thing stands out common, both Marxism and the modern education system grew out of the 19th century Eurocentric intellectual culture and the Eurocentric construction/structure of knowledge.
To use Teshale's words , it was not Walleligne's fault that his four-page call for the 'deconstruction of the power structure' until now remained unelaborated, unexamined, unexplored, and unresearched. Tilahun Takele (pen name of two later EPRP leaders) enlarged Walleligne's pages, but more does not mean better. The blank spaces of knowledge of Ethiopian society were filled with long quotations form Comrade Stalin and Comrade Lenin. In this conference I will attempt to identify the Genesis of Ethnic politics and its aftermath vis-à-vis Ethiopian quest for Modernity. |
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