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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 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.

This paper offers a political analysis of the development of the TPLF-induced armed conflict in northern Ethiopia and considers the international responses in media and international policy circles. The extension of the conflict by the TPLF after the unilateral ceasefire proclaimed by the federal government on 28 June 2021 (followed by its retreat from Tigray) did not lead to an easing of the fighting. On the contrary, the TPLF used scorched-earth tactics, perpetrated substantial abuse of civilians (mass killings, burning down villages, destroying and looting hospitals, health centres and other economic infrastructure), and created food scarcity, hundreds of thousands of IDPs and hugely aggravated humanitarian problems in the Amhara and Afar regions. In spite of this unilateral TPLF extension of the armed conflict, the responses of international policy circles, notably from the Western ‘donor countries’ and the UN, have been negative towards the federal government and mild on the TPLF.This paper explores aspects of this paradoxical and problematic approach and argues that it will not lead to a political or other solution of the conflict, especially not in view of the undiminished belligerent strategy of the TPLF. The Ethiopian federal government and its leader PM Abiy Ahmed, having been confirmed in power after a relatively successful and credible parliamentary election on 21 June 2021, are pressurized by much of the global media and Western policy makers for the problems in Tigray – including the ‘famine’ declared by TPLF - and urged to negotiate. The TPLF, incorrectly identified with the people of Tigray as a whole, is not held to account. But an overbearing Western approach based on the threat of sanctions (by the US government) and on what often seem ‘neo-imperialist’ demands, as evident from serious interference in the conflict - even by a number of UN individuals (expelled from the country on 30 September 2021) - will not contribute to political negotiations or dialogue, restoration of peace, or rehabilitation of the war-torn regions, neither to stability in Ethiopia. Not only improved media reporting, based on solid local (Ethiopian) information and checking sources, but also a fundamental reset of certain UN and Western donor country policies on Ethiopia, are needed.RésuméCette étude propose une analyse politique du développement du conflit armé induit par les TPLF dans le nord de l'Éthiopie et examine les réponses internationales dans les médias et les cercles politiques internationaux. L'extension du conflit par le TPLF après le cessez-le-feu unilatéral proclamé par le gouvernement fédéral le 28 juin 2021 (suivi de son retrait du Tigré) n'a pas conduit à un apaisement des combats ; au contraire. Les tactiques de la terre brûlée, les abus sérieux contre les civils (meurtres en masse, incendies de villages, pillage et destruction des hôpitaux et autres infrastructures économiques), la pénurie alimentaire, des centaines de milliers de déplacés internes et des problèmes humanitaires extrêmement aggravés dans les régions d'Amhara et d'Afar en ont été le résultat. Malgré cette extension unilatérale du conflit par le TPLF, les réponses des cercles politiques internationaux, notamment des pays « bailleurs-de-fonds » occidentaux et de l'ONU, ont été négatives envers le gouvernement fédéral mais modérées envers le TPLF.

Summary: Global media discussion and policy responses to the armed conflict in Tigray Region, Ethiopia, that started op 4 November 2020 by the TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) party-led Tigray Regional government, are marked by bias, incompleteness, lack of context understanding, credulity and an anti-federal goverment attitude. The conflict, provoked by an unannounced and treacherous nightly attack by TPLF forces on federal army troups stationed in Tigray to protect the Region, was the result of misplaced power-mongering by the TPLF, and its building up of tension with the federal Ethiopian goverment. The 4 November attack led to a major federal army response. Five days after the attack by TPLF, on 9 November 2021, over 800 Amharic-speaking civilian inhabitants of the town of Mai Kadra in Western Tigray were killed by TPLF-affiliated forces and militias in a gruesome manner – a classic case of ‘ethnic cleansing’. Perpetrators mostly fled to Sudanese refugee camps. These two events - the 4 November attack and the ‘ethnic cleansing’ - were defining dramatic moments in the war. While the conflict unfolded, leading to defeat of the TPLF forces on 28 November 2020 with the taking over of the regional capital Meqele and the flight of the TPLF leadership, many leading Western media and news websites focused on the aftermath and the effects of the fighting in Tigray Region and its population, easily shifting sympathy twards the perceived ‘underdog’ (TPLF). This was followed by hastily written statements by foreign policy makers in EU, USA and UN circles, leading to an emerging policy narrative whereby essential details of the context, the nature of the adversaries, the reasons of the conflict were sidelined. These Atlantic community spokespersons shifted to ‘blaming’ the federal Ethiopian government and ‘demanding’ all kinds of measures from it. Notable was the international community clamouring for ‘unlimited and full access’ for humanitarian aid to ‘prevent famine’, and demand a halt to all hostilities. But meanwhile it did not deliver much aid itself and did as if making it conditional on the federal government following their orders. Part of the international media, several academic associates and researchers who saw acces to their research sites blocked, and diverse TPLF associates in various international organizations continued to fuel the flames of this approach, next to the ‘digital activism’and the production of fake news reports by pro-TPLF persons in Ethiopa and especially in the Tigrayan ‘diaspora’ in the West.All this led to serious misperceptions and unfair bias on the part of the Atlantic countries and the UN vis-à-vis Ethiopia, which endangered integrity, balance, and a proper perspective on causes and consequences, as well as to policies that seemed akin to ‘development aid blackmail’ and sanctimonious lecturing of a fragile, low-income African developing country. In the exercise, the detailed press statements, reports and explanations by Ethiopian parties, including the government and reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, are routinely neglected or doubted. In contrast, the statements and international messages by TPLF remnants and advocates, marked by a high degree of unreliability, exaggeration and very often lacking truth content, are used uncritically. On the basis of a number of telling examples, this paper describes the above process, analyses the emerging Atlantic discourse and some of its mistakes and wrong assumptions. It thereby pleads for a more balanced, critical approach to the incomplete reporting and wilfull misinformation from questionable sources so as to have the media and Atlantic policy makers develop a more responsible approach.Résumé: parti TPLF (Tigray Peoples Liberation Front), sont marquées par des préjugés, des incomplétudes, un manque de compréhension du contexte, la crédulité et une attitude contre le gouvernement fédéral. Le conflit, provoqué par une attaque nocturne inopinée et perfide par les forces tigréennes contre les troupes de l'armée fédérale stationnées au Tigré pour protéger la région, était le résultat d'une politique de la force mal jugée par le TPLF et sa montée des tensions avec le gouvernement fédéral éthiopien. L'attaque du 4 novembre a évoquée à une réponse directe de l'armée fédérale. Cinq jours après l'attaque du TPLF, plus de 800 habitants civils de langue amharique de la ville de Mai Kadra dans le Tigray occidental ont été tués, le 9 novembre 2021, par des forces et des milices affiliées au TPLF d'une manière horrible - un cas classique de «nettoyage ethnique», et les auteurs ont pour la plupart fui vers les camps de réfugiés soudanais. Ces deux événements - l’attaque du 4 novembre et ce «nettoyage ethnique» - étaient des moments dramatiques cruciales de la guerre. Alors que le conflit se déroulait, conduisant à la défaite des forces du TPLF le 28 novembre 2020 avec la prise de contrôle de la capitale régionale Meqele et la fuite des dirigeants du TPL, de nombreux médias et sites Internet occidentaux de premier plan se sont concentrés sur les conséquences et les effets des combats dans la région du Tigray et sa population, la sympathie se déplaçant facilement vers le «perdant» perçu (TPLF). Cela a été suivi par des déclarations écrites à la hâte par des décideurs politiques étrangers aux cercles de l'UE, des États-Unis et de l'ONU, menant à un récit politique émergent dans lequel les détails essentiels du contexte, de la nature des adversaires et des raisons du conflit ont été mis de côté. Ces portes-parole de la communauté atlantique sont passés à toujours «blâmer» le gouvernement fédéral éthiopien et à «exiger» toutes sortes de mesures de sa part. Il convient de noter que la communauté internationale toujours réclamait un «accès illimité et complet pour l’aide humanitaire» pour «prévenir la famine» et exigeait «‘l’arrêt de toutes les hostilités, mais entre-temps, elle n'a pas fourni beaucoup d'aide et semble la conditionner à ce que le gouvernement fédéral suive ses ordres. Une partie de la presse mondiale, plusieurs universitaires qui ont vu l'accès à leurs sites de recherche bloqué, et divers associés du TPLF dans diverses organisations internationales ont continué à alimenter les flammes de cette approche, à côté de «l'activisme digitale» et de la production de «fake news» et rapports douteux de personnes pro-TPLF en Ethiopie et en particulier dans la «diaspora» tigréenne en Occident. Tout cela a conduit à de graves perceptions erronées et à des préjugés injustes de la part des pays atlantiques et de l'ONU vis-à-vis de l'Éthiopie qui ont mis en danger l'intégrité, l'équilibre et une bonne perspective des causes et des conséquences, ainsi qu’a des politiques qui semblent s'apparenter à une approche sur base de «development aid blackmail» et des discours moralisateurs envers un pays africain pauvre et en développement fragile. Dans l'exercice, les déclarations de presse détaillées et les explications de la part de l’Éthiopie, y compris le gouvernement et le Premier Ministre réformiste Abiy Ahmed, sont régulièrement négligés ou mis en doute. En revanche, les déclarations et les messages internationaux des défenseurs du TPLF, marqués par un degré élevé de manque de fiabilité, d'exagération et souvent dépourvus de contenu véridique, sont utilisés sans critique. Sur la base d'un certain nombre d'exemples révélateurs, cet article décrit le processus ci-dessus et analyse le discours atlantique émergent et certaines de ses erreurs et hypothèses erronées. Il plaide ainsi pour une approche plus équilibrée et critique du reportage incomplet et de la désinformation afin que les médias et la politique atlantique développent une politique plus responsable.

‘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.

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 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.

State mega-infrastructure projects in developing countries evoke challenges to citizenship and reconstruct the imagery of statecraft. The Ethiopian government's construction of a large dam in the Omo River evoked contesting accounts of development and legitimate governance among a variety of actors. Debates between relevant actors centre on classic topoi of the 'development' discourse but present seemingly irreconcilable views. In the process, discourses of technocratic expertise claiming to evade 'politics' as well as culturally grounded socio-economic narratives are mobilised. They are juxtaposed here to develop an anthropological interpretation of the discursive positions, connecting the analysis to a consideration of precarious citizenship and coercive state consolidation in Ethiopia. © 2012 European Association of Social Anthropologists.

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 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.

This chapter revisits the issue of elections and democracy in Africa, a theme that emerged as dominant in scholarly discussions in African Studies in the 1990s. The trigger for featuring Ethiopia as a case study was the May 2010 parliamentary elections when the incumbent party, which had been in power since 1991, took 99.6% of all the seats. While the various Ethiopian elections will not be discussed in detail, the political culture or wider context in which they occur - and always produce the same overall result - will be highlighted to demonstrate the enduring mechanisms and problems of hegemonic rule and how difficult it is to create a democratic system that allows for changes in power (i.e. alternation). The relationship between one-party rule and economic development will also be discussed - the latter being a donor obsession that clouds the political agenda. The chapter closes with some reflections on the recurring donor-country dilemmas when it comes to dealing with electoral autocracies, such as Ethiopia.

This book brings together studies on the broad theme of elections and democratization in Africa since roughly 1989. It is based on a seminar held in The Netherlands in February 1997, and includes chapters on both electoral processes, especially the role of foreign observers therein, and the historical and sociocultural backgrounds or contexts of democratization, elections and political legitimacy. Part 1 deals with elections and election observation in Africa in general (contributions by O. van Cranenburgh, S. Ellis, I. van Kessel, B. de Gaay Fortman). Part 2 consists of country studies (M. Doornbos on Uganda, D. Foeken en T. Dietz on Kenya, J. Abbink on Ethiopia, R. van Dijk on Malawi, R. Buijtenhuijs on Chad, and M.-F. Lange on Mali). Part 3 includes a chapter that reflects the discussions held at the seminar between observers, academics and policymakers in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (W. van Binsbergen en J. Abbink); a review of Dutch policies on election observation in Africa during the period 1992-1997 (O. van Cranenburgh); and a discussion of the 1997 general elections in Kenya, where a new approach of election observation was introduced (M. Rutten)

Eighteen years after the change of power and the ushering in of the second Ethiopian republic in 1991, the political process in Ethiopia has, according to most observers, rigidified and largely closed the space for representative democracy. This paper looks at the main organizing political ideas of Ethiopia's Second Republic and at the nature of its governance techniques in the face of domestic and international challenges, with reference to the debate on "failing" or "fragile" States. It argues that the new "social contract" defined after 1991 and codified in the 1994 Constitution is precarious. Dissent and ethno-regional resistance to federal policies are dealt with mainly by coercion and discursive isolation. Oppositional forces voice the need for a rethinking of the organizing ideas and institutions of the Second Republic in order to enhance political consensus and a shared political arena, but get little response. The paper sketches an interpretation of governance in Ethiopia, focusing on the dilemma of reconciling local and modernist political practices, and discusses the status of "republican" ideas, in name important in Ethiopia but mostly absent in practice. Explicit debate of these ideas is usually sidelined - also in academic commentaries - in favour of a focus on the ethno-federal ideology of the Ethiopian State. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and German. [Journal abstract]

This paper presents some preliminary observations on Sufi Muslim shrines or retreats in the Ethiopian W„llo region, places where local Muslim holy men or 'saints' lead the faithful and act as religious mediators and advisors. Some of these retreats of Sufi Muslims have a 'monastic' character, and allow males and females a life of reflection and devotion to God. An obvious parallel with Christian monasteries presents itself, referring to a partly shared religious culture. Some reflections on the extent and nature of this similarity are made, and the need for a fresh approach to the study of religion in Ethiopia/Africa, in the context of contemporary debates about religious identity and the hardening of communal boundaries, is underlined.

This chapter briefly presents the biography of Londósa, a ritual leader or 'komoru' of the Chari Suri people in southwestern Ethiopia and shows how a personal case study can highlight the social problems of an ethnic group. Suri face a crisis of security and of social continuity. Both their physical security and their food security are at risk, and they have enduring tense relations with neighbouring peoples and with the Ethiopian State. Like other ethnic groups (e.g. Nyangatom, Toposa, Anywaa, Meen) they use armed force to defend themselves or contest resources. The relatively quick "militarization" of societies like the Suri in the last 15 years has brought new problems and challenges. Londósa, as the Suri ritual mediator and leader, recognized the problems emerging and called for restraint to Suri exercise of violence but with little effect. He was powerless to prevent the gradual deterioration of internal social relations in Suri society resulting from this militarization. Feelings of powerlessness and deception with the way Suri society was developing undoubtedly contributed to his early death in June 2000. Includes bibliographical references, notes, and summary [Book abstract]

The Ethiopian-Eritrean 'border war' of 1998-2000 was about much more than a stretch of relatively useless borderland, but in the subsequent negotiations this issue has come to dominate the agenda. The focus of the controversy is the village of Badme. Despite the border decision prepared by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Commission (EEBC) under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2002, no one knew for sure which country had been accorded Badme until the EEBC issued a statement on 21 March 2003, declaring that the place would be in Eritrea. However, with this statement the case is not yet closed. Ethiopia remains unconvinced and has called for a 'proper' interpretation of the issue in the spirit of the December 2000 Algiers agreement. This article discusses the background to the conflict and explains why Badme has become such a highly symbolic prize. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]

Many inter-State and intra-State conflicts in Africa become more complex by being extended into 'proxy wars', i.e. secondary, often 'low intensity' armed conflicts, pursued in the context of a major power struggle, or outright wars between States carried out by subsidiary or co-opted insurgent movements, usually of an ethno-regional nature. In the Horn of Africa, the proxy war phenomenon is visible owing to alliances behind the scenes, the involvement of neighbouring countries, and frequent changes of allegiance. The proxy war strategy was pursued by both players in the 1998-2000 border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, not only in the enemy country but also in neighbouring States. Since the peace agreement of June 2000, the importance and impact of the proxy war factor has declined somewhat, but whether this decline will contribute to the building of a 'lasting peace' is not at all certain. The experience of tenuous negotiation during the past two years seems to indicate otherwise. The author argues that the threat of regional instability by proxy conflict remains, as long as the Ethiopian and Eritrean regimes are unwilling to make real peace with each other. App. (list of insurgent movements), bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]

Based on the study of chiefs, elders and local leaders in southern Ethiopia, this paper analyses the idea of authority, legitimacy and governance among three small-scale societies, the Me'en, the Dizi and the Suri. It shows that in southern Ethiopia efforts were made to replace charismatic and traditional authority by a bureaucratic structure of rulers and legal procedures instigated by the expanding national State, but that this process was neither complete nor successful, because the sources of legitimacy of leadership and authority remained firmly within the local societies and were ill understood by outsiders, including State authorities. The central imperial State (upto 1974) did not use the pre-existing forms of local chiefs and other authorities and simply bypassed them either by appointing its own administrators as an extra layer of power or by relying upon provincial lords or kings in the core regions of the empire. The appointees had little connection with the local population. If they became too popular they were removed. Their loyalty only had to be upward, towards the emperor and his political circle. In the Derg era (1974-1991), this authoritarian pattern was reinforced, and wherever traditional chiefs existed, they were violently removed and suppressed. To date these three forms of authority co-exist and interact and define much of the local political dynamics, including violent conflict. Includes bibliographic references and notes. [ASC Leiden abstract]

This bibliography on Christianity in Ethiopia covers material published from the early 1960s onwards. It focuses on the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, including the Eritrean Orthodox Church, which became autonomous in 1993, but references on modern missionary and evangelical Christianity, as well as Catholicism are also included. The focus is on foreign-language studies, but a limited number of works in Ethiopian languages is also included. The entries are arranged in three parts: 1. Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and missionary churches: historical, political, religious and sociocultural aspects; 2. Christian texts, manuscripts, hagiographies; 3. Ethiopian Christian art and architecture. [ASC Leiden abstract]

This collective volume reinterprets the genre of resistance studies, introduces recent conceptual perspectives and considers examples of African (civil) wars and insurgent movements. Contributions: Rethinking resistance in African history, an introduction, by Klaas van Walraven and Jon Abbink. Part I (Historical perspectives): Resistance to Fulbe hegemony in nineteenth-century West Africa, by Mirjam de Bruijn and Han van Dijk; Colonial conquest in central Madagascar: who resisted what?, by Stephen Ellis; Revisiting resistance in Italian-occupied Ethiopia: the Patriots' Movement (1936-1941) and the redefinition of post-war Ethiopia, by Aregawi Berhe. Part 2 (Social inequalities and colonial hierarchies): Ambiguities of resistance and collaboration on the Eastern Cape Frontier: the Kat River Settlement 1829-1856, by Robert Ross; African mutinies in the Netherlands East Indies: a nineteenth-century colonial paradox, by Ineke van Kessel; Absence of evidence is no proof: slave resistance under German colonial rule in East Africa, by Jan-Georg Deutsch. Part 3 (Violence, meaning and ideology in resistance): The Kawousan War reconsidered, by Kimba Idrissa; 'Sawaba''s rebellion in Niger (1964-1965): narrative and meaning, by Klaas van Walraven; The vagaries of violence and power in post-colonial Mozambique, by Gerhard Seibert. Part 4 (Resistance as heritage and memory): Herero genocide in the twentieth century: politics and memory, by Jan-Bart Gewald; 'Namibia, land of the brave': selective memories on war and violence within nation building, by Henning Melber; Dervishes, 'moryaan' and freedom fighters: cycles of rebellion and the fragmentation of Somali society, 1900-2000, by Jon Abbink

In this article a comparative study is presented of the Indian and the Ethiopian Jews in Israel, immigrant communities that went through similar experiences of integration and accommodation in Israel, despite the time lag in their arrival. Elements of their history and sociocultural background in the countries of origin are discussed in order to explain the emergence and status of ethnic identity in a complex new society with a shared background ideology of integration (Zionism). An assessment is made of the (perceived) initial religious and social marginality of the two groups as it may have interacted with their social "careers" and group status. The socioeconomic structure of Israeli society has contributed to "reproducing ethnicity". The analysis suggests that the "Indian" and "Ethiopian" Jewish subidentities are now well-established in Israel, illustrating that the cultural content of "Jewishness" or Jewish identity is quite diverse

This chapter discusses the dynamics of interaction between the Ethiopan political centre and the Surma or Suri people, a small group of independent agro-pastoralists located in the Maji border area of South-West Ethiopia, from 1974 to 1998. In this period the Suri provide an example of how allegedly 'marginal' populations were challenged, if not forced, to break out of their peripheral condition into one of engagement and co-optation that necessitated indigenous responses to an encroaching 'modernity'. Notes. [ASC Leiden abstract]

Alcohol can be used as a theme to belittle, patronize and differentiate people. This happens especially when different kinds of beverages are accorded a different status across social and ethnic groups in society. The case study presented in this chapter highlights cultural aspects of social inequality and ethnic stratification by tracing the ambivalent connections between alcohol, power and cultural dominance in the Maji region of southern Ethiopia, where the author carried out fieldwork in 1995/1996. Maji society's 'drinking situation' reflects the area's history of divergent ethnocultural traditions and exposure of people to State narratives of civilization and governance. Historically, the local people, among them the Dizi, Me'en and Suri, were deemed politically and culturally less civilized by the central State and the northern immigrants. The Suri, as agropastoralist lowlanders, were considered especially coarse in their mannerisms and livelihood pursuits. Alcohol (ab)use is explained by many non-Suri northerners in the neighbouring villages as another example of the Suri's 'backward' social behaviour. This chapter explores the basis of such remarks and what they reveal about hegemonic relations and group prestige. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]

After more than two years of bloody warfare, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace accord in Algiers on 12 December 2000. Although the peace accord paved the way for negotiations and a delineation of the Ethio-Eritrean border, political stability in the region is not expected to increase unless the two governments reform their systems of governance. This article focuses on social developments 'on the ground' since the peace accord and on the social and psychological impact of the war on local peoples, such as the Afar, Irob, and Kunama. The author argues that a strict delimitation of the border may further divide local population groups and create tensions instead of defusing them. He further argues that the impact of the United Nations Mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), in place since December 2000, will be limited; UNMEE is responsible for immediate security issues, but is not allowed to mediate between State authorities and local inhabitants. In the end, the border people may hold a key to the future of Ethio-Eritrean relations. Notes, ref., sum. in French and Italian

Na ruim twee jaar oorlog verrasten Ethiopië en Eritrea de wereld met ondertekening van een vredesovereenkomst in Algiers, onder bemiddeling van de OAE. Hoewel er nu sprake is van een soort vredesproces - of beter 'onderhandelingsproces' - is verzoening nog ver weg. Daarbij komt nog dat de positie van beide regimes op de langere termijn ook door groeiende binnenlandse onvrede in het geheel niet zeker is. In beide landen is de erfenis van een 'geweldscultuur' alom aanwezig. De onderliggende politieke spanning tussen de beide landen staat normalisering, vrede en economische ontwikkeling in de weg. De oorlog mag dan wel afgelopen zijn, de autoritaire politieke structuren en het gebrekkig en arrogant leiderschap in beide landen blijven een groot struikelblok voor vooruitgang. Dit artikel gaat in op potentiële twistpunten in het akkoord van december 2000, zaken die niet geregeld kunnen worden met een vredesverdrag - wederzijds vertrouwen, herstel van normale betrekkingen - en het blijvende antagonisme tussen de twee regeringen. De conclusie is dat, aangezien de oorzaken van de grote spanning tussen Ethiopië en Eritrea nog dezelfde zijn als in mei 1998, de kans op duurzame vrede klein lijkt. Noten, samenv. in het Engels (p. 228)

This article examines the social and political background of escalating violence between ethnic groups in southwestern Ethiopia who until recently had customary and ritually sanctioned ways of resolving conflict. It focuses on the Maji area, a frontier region inhabited by two indigenous groups - the Dizi and the Suri, and people from a mixed background, descendants of immigrants and recent arrivals taking up posts as soldiers, traders and government officials in the small towns. The article outlines the economic, social and cultural factors involved in the generation of intergroup violence in the area, as well as traditional Suri and Dizi reconciliation rituals. It also indicates the changing arenas of 'ethnic' self-definition and economic opportunity for local groups in post-1991 Ethiopia. An analysis of a reconciliation meeting organized in the Maji area by the new government in 1991 reveals that in the efforts of State agents to mediate emerging conflicts in conditions of increasing scarcity and identity struggle, the use of customary mediation mechanisms was formally recognized. But at the same time, efficient mediation was structurally impeded by the very nature of the exercise of authority by State agents and their failure to implement practical measures of conflict resolution. This failure was matched by the inability of the representatives of the ethnic groups concerned to redefine their relationship in a constructive manner.

Through a study of the ceremonial stick duelling among the Surma of southern Ethiopia, this article explores the sociocultural context of ritual violence in a small-scale agropastoralist society and its relation to social reproductive concerns. Surma male stick duelling ('sagine'), contained by strict rules of procedure, is a form of ritualized violence among Surma themselves, and contrasts sharply with violence against members of non-Surma neighbouring groups. 'Sagine' can be interpreted not only as the management of relations between competing territorial sections within Surma society, but also in terms of the connection between sociality and sexuality in Surma life. However, contrary to sociobiological predictions, combat success is neither valued for its own sake nor does it show itself to be reproductively advantageous in a statistical sense.

On 6 May 1998, a violent conflict erupted in the Ethiopian-Eritrean border area. This article contends that this border crisis is neither unexpected nor the result of a real border dispute. Rather, it is due to three factors: the particular history and relationship of the two insurgent movements turned national governments (the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, EPLF, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, TPLF) in the two countries; the nature and heritage of neopatrimonial elite rule and the lack of democratic restructuring in the two countries; and the economic problems of Eritrea. The author first gives an overview of the outbreak of the conflict, its economic effects, and international mediation efforts. Then he analyses the background to the border dispute, arguing that it is a direct result of the unresolved and ambiguous political relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the national leaders' policy of making deals without securing a broad national consensus or legally clear formulas. Finally, he considers the prospects for a solution of the conflict and future relations between the two countries. Notes, ref

This article presents an account of the ideological form and practical exercise of violence among the Chai, a subgroup of the Suri (or Surma) people, agropastoralists in southern Ethiopia. In theoretical terms, the general question is addressed of how, on the elementary level of small-scale, relatively traditional society without stratification, central leadership and modern economic features, "violence" is constructed and performed, and how it partly defines the social persona and collectivity of this group, as opposed to others. The author asserts that, while the connections of the Suri with other ethno-cultural groups in a partially shared environment and contacts with State forces are not new - recent political, ecological and other developments have an important transformative impact on their patterns of violence. The past years have shown a serious crisis in the relations between the Chai and their neighbours. Both internal, thus far ritually contained Chai violence, as well as violence towards other groups, tends to break the bounds of custom and to turn into the uninhibited use of force. While it makes available new options for local people, the new violence tends to endanger the coexistence of groups as well as the peace in Chai society itself.

Despite its ancient history in Ethiopia, Islam has always been a secondary status religion in the country. It emerged in the shadow of Christianity and has often suffered from suppression and discrimination. This has had an impact on the social opportunities, religious and civil rights, and the pattern of self-organization of Ethiopian Muslims. During the last decade, new issues of religious identity and communal political identity among Muslims in Ethiopia have emerged in the wake of political and economic reform processes, and as a result of the process of cultural globalization. This article gives a historical overview of the emergence and development of Islam in Ethiopia, its position in the pre-1974 empire and its relationship with Christianity, and changes under the Mengistu regime (1974-1991), which actively discouraged religion in all its forms. Finally, it discusses developments since 1991, paying special attention to questions of identity and the 'ethnic' dimensions of Islam. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum

According to the policy of the government of the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), ethnic identity is the ideological basis of Ethiopia's political organization and administration and as such has been enshrined in the Federal Constitution of December 1994. Yet the Constitution's explicit reinstatement of ethnicity in law coincides with a politico-economic situation which has made ethnoregional groups more interdependent than ever before, and where the central State has come to play an essential role as a resource and a mechanism of redistribution. The author looks at the way in which ethnicity is translated in the clauses on nationality rights, noting the originality of the Constitution, on the one hand, and the difficulties and ambiguities surrounding the structures of implementation of the ethnicization formula, on the other. The impression arises that "self-determination" has been granted for rhetorical and ideological purposes, and that the central federal government has no intention of relinquishing real power. There is, furthermore, no possibility of judicial review by the courts of State executive and legislative powers. Nor has the Constitution solved the problem of reconciling the various generations of rights. Moreover, the failure to define or design the Ethiopian polity as an arena of compromise or issue politics creates problems for the realization of a country-wide democratic polity. Notes, ref., sum. (p. i)

This paper focuses on problems and dilemmas of changing alcohol use among the Surma, a group of lowland agropastoralists in Maji, southern Ethiopia. The area under discussion is inhabited by indigenous agriculturalists, descendants of northern immigrants of mixed origin, and Surma and Me'en agropastoralists. The paper reveals the existence of a pattern of 'alcoholic hegemonism' in the area. The culturally dominant villagers want to have the best of both worlds. Their types of alcoholic drinks are 'the best' and they think they know how to use and not abuse them. The local people (the Surma, Dizi and Me'en) are 'still caught' in their traditional drinking habits involving the consumption of their local 'bord‚' beer. They are also subjected to the harsh reign of 'katikala', a strong and dangeous beverage, which they cannot handle and which thus tends to create trouble. That they themselves (the villagers and State-connected people) have introduced 'katikala' does not make them feel in any way responsible for such trouble. Bibliogr., notes, ref

The relation of pastoral societies with the 'outside world' has proved to be one of structural deterioration. This poses questions as to the political space remaining for these societies within the State arenas to which they nominally belong and the nature of their ethnoreligious identities. The pastoral societies of East Africa, while varied in nature and social organization, still show some common characteristics with regard to religion and political system. The author argues that the principles of clan segmentation, age-group structure, the ritual-cyclical ordering of community life, and decentralized, regionally exercised power will remain more important organizing elements for pastoral societies than purely ideological-religious factors. This is a result of certain macroconditions such as their necessary confinement to marginal areas, their geographical mobility, and their lack of integration into the wider State society in terms of literacy, economic surplus extraction, social mobility, or political representation. The author looks at the 'strategies' of various agropastoral groups in terms of religious response and political action within these macroconditions. He uses the examples of the Boran in Ethiopia and Kenya, the Nuer in Sudan and Ethiopia, and the Surma of southern Ethiopia.

This article examines recent developments of local authority and 'leadership' among the Surma of southern Ethiopia, where the author carried out field research over the years 1990-1995. The intention is to analyse the nature of 'authority' in a non-State social formation, in which 'chiefs' in the proper sense of the word are absent. The author gives an overview of the three different political systems which have succeeded each other in Ethiopia since the late 19th century: Haile Selassie's feudalist monarchy (until 1974), the Dergue's centralist republic (1974-1991), and the present ethno-regional federal republic, and examines to what extent these different types of governance have had a transformative impact on traditional forms of local leadership. He argues that southern Ethiopian local administration has always been characterized by an uneasy alliance of two types of leaders: imported highland rulers and local, indigenous 'chiefs' or ritual leaders ('komoru'). The Surma 'komoru' have generally remained outside the political arena. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in French and Italian