Field and river

20th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (ICES20)
Mekelle University, Ethiopia

"Regional and Global Ethiopia - Interconnections and Identities"
1-5 October, 2018

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THE COLLAPSE OF INDIGENOUS SOCIO-POLITICAL SYSTEMS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA: THE CASE D’IRASHA COMMUNITY IN SOUTH WESTERN ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 1215-01]

FIREW Tesfaye Odayte, Arba Minch University, Social and Behavioural Reserch Unit, Ethiopia

The central goal of this study is to describe the indigenous governance system of the D’irasha in the context of local self-governance. The study seeks to explore the D’irasha governance system as an African ideal of democracy and indigenous socio-political value. The system is also observed as a core component of D’irasha ethnic identity. The study suggests possible ways of integrating the system into the existing structure of local self-governance. In methodological terms the research pursued qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis. Ethical considerations and triangulation techniques were employed to achieve an objective analysis, derive robust findings findings and draw valid conclusions. These tools used to collect data were interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. During the analysis of the data, the nature and function of the indigenous D’irasha governance system is described in detail. The system is also viewed within the context of the socio-political changes it has faced since the Abyssinian conquest in1890s. Here the impacts of Abyssinian cultural hegemony, the outcome of the brief Italian occupation (1936-1941), the influence of the protestant missionaries since the 1950s, the effect of the socialist socio-political system that followed the 1974 revolution, and the consequences of the post-1991 ethnic based political discourse, are examined from the perspective of the indigenous governance system of the people under study. The study finds that the people in question have lost many aspects of their indigenous system of governance because of interventions from state and non-state actors since the 1890s. The loss of these traditional mechanisms of social control, together with the existing inefficient system of local governance and poor conflict management policies, have resulted in repeated intera-ethnic conflict among the D’irasha, especially since the 1990s. It has also affected traditional forest management practices and led to environmental deterioration. Overall, the study calls for the re-empowerment of the indigenous D’irasha system of governance.