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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Memories of Eritreans and Ethiopians: maintaining social networks across boundaries
| Panel |
80. Memories of own country: maintaining social networks across boundaries
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| Paper ID | 251 |
| Author(s) |
Woldemariam, Yohannes
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | Different generations of migrants from Eritrea and Ethiopia have varying memories of home. For example, the generation of youth that fled Ethiopia during Mengistus’s Red Terror campaign is defined by the memory of the atrocities committed during that period. This particular generation tends to primarily form its social networks in the Diaspora with those who share this memory. Others emphasize different events depending on when they left Ethiopia or Eritrea. Another example that could be cited is the case of the ELF (Eritrean Liberation Front) fighters who were driven out of Eritrea by the EPLF in 1980. These ex fighters tend to socialize and network with others who share this particular experience. This is not to argue that such exile communities live in separate memory islands. Memories are complex and no one “group” is defined by only one event and social networks do exist across “groups” with varied experiences. However, there are specific and defining moments that are emphasized by one group more than other groups and which determine strong identification and solidarity based on such moments. My paper will identify specific and important moments in Eritrean and Ethiopian histories during the seventies, eighties and nineties and explore how these memories have become the bases for networking among Diaspora communities from these countries.
Furthermore identities are in the process of being redefined and renegotiated. I will therefore explore on how contemorary events continue to affect and change the idea of the homeland among these groups. I critically examine the view which identifies diasporic groups as unified or monolithic communities and instead show the distinctions that class, gender, ethnicity, religion and specific events which precepitated flight play in constructing their narratives, experiences, and imaginations.
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