Use the "back" button of your browser to return to the list of abstracts.
[PANEL] 0504 ETHIOPIAN VIS-A-VIS OROMO AND ISLAMICATE STUDIES: CHANGE TRAJECTORIES
Organizers:
Mukerrem Miftah SHAFI, Ibn Khaldun University, Turkey
MOHAMMED Endris, Gazi University, Turkey
Paper presenters:
MOHAMMED Jemal Ahmed; SHIMELLIS Hailu; ABDULMALIK A. Ahmed; MISGANAW Tadesse
"Ethiopian studies" have long been overshadowed by studies of the Northern societies of present-day Ethiopia. This had its own underlying conditions and subsequent consequences. State politics and knowledge production were intertwined for many years, so that the latter simplistically reflected the former. Christianity, Orthodox Christianity in particular, also helped to attract not only local adherent intellectuals but also foreign missionaries, explorers and scholars. Yet, this did not go unnoticed. By taking relatively different methodological as well as epistemological grounds, it can be argued that Oromo studies achieved a relative success by deconstructing and reconstructing the old regime of knowledge. In addition to Ethiopian and Oromo studies, Islamicate studies is also getting a significant momentum in its march for securing an independent place in the study of the identities, cultures, and histories of Ethiopia. There are different circumstances and facets that underpin the advent of Islamicate studies in Ethiopia. The objective of this panel is to create a forum to discuss how much the Oromo and Islamicate studies are becoming part and parcel of the overall claim for Ethiopia in cultural, historical, political, and religious terms.
***
AHMED UNIFIER OR INVADER: THE ROLE OF AHMED IBN IBRAHIM IN THE UNIFICATION OF ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 0504-01]
Traditionally, it is believed that the unification of Ethiopia was initiated by Tewodros II in the 1850s and completed by Menilik II in 1900. But, this tradition seems denied and/or at least underestimates pre 1850s Ethiopia and the claim of three thousand years of history. Meanwhile, some historians believe that Ethiopia even beyond the current border was ruled by Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim from c.1530s to 1540s and, therefore, Ethiopia had already been unified in the 16th century. According to these scholars, Ahmed’s role is high in terms of basing the social, psychological and historical inclusion of Ethiopian Muslims to the country’s affairs. However, it is unfortunate that the role of Ahmed remain controversial in Ethiopian history. Some have not recognized him either as a unifier or as a citizen; he was rather portrayed as an invader. Hence, the main purpose of this paper is to appraise the place of Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim in the Unification of Ethiopia. By reappraising the contested nature of Ethiopia’s medieval period historiography, it also discloses some regularly obscured aspects of the country’s past.
**
DEBATE ON OROMO POLITICS AND NATIONALISM IN ETHIOPIA: MYTH AND REALITY [Abstract ID: 0504-04]
The first organized Oromo nationalism in modern times was begun by the Mecca-Tulama self-help association around 1960s. At this time, the Oromo political question had a single centre and its end goal is accommodative self-determination. By the 1970s, however, following the dismantlement of the Mecca-Tulama self-help association and the imprisonment of its architects, political party formation gradually began in Oromia in particular and Ethiopia at large. The first Oromo based political party with a colonial thesis was the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). Then, during the Derg regime, the political parties, political groups and scholars concerned with the Oromo cause divided into two perspectives. Some Oromo organized under the All Ethiopian Socialism Movement, which largely advocated the national oppression thesis, while others organized under OLF, which at the time advanced the colonial thesis. These debates between the two perspectives – the colonial and the national oppression theses – continued, though the colonial thesis began to fade at the end of 1990s. To verify this, the researcher drawn an analytical approach and secondary data sources. Based on the evidence, it can be concluded that labeling the Oromo’s political history in Ethiopia as colonialism and proposing secession as a panacea for Oromo nationalism, is a myth born out of political grievance or a political game to hijack Oromo causes. The existing reality is accommodative nation building. The real solution for Oromo nationalism is to re-establish the Ethiopian polity in which all nations, nationalities and peoples share equal political, economic and social equality. The colonial thesis with its solution of Oromo secession is theoretically premature and practically inapplicable
**
HARARI OROMO ALLIANCE IN PRESERVING HARAR [Abstract ID: 0504-05]
Harar Jugal, which is referred to as a “living museum”, was registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2006. In order to preserve Harar as a living museum various stakeholders contributed in different ways. In particular, its preservation required cooperation between Hararis and Oromos. This paper discusses how the cooperation was established, what methods were employed, who the main participants were and what lessons can be learnt from this historical alliance. It will also discuss the social, economic and political institutions of these main players and how they contributed to preserving the city state. This research is based on reviews of both historical and current literature, as well as interviews and observations. Finally, the importance of this study will be argued and conclusions drawn.
**
IN BETWEEN THE DOMINANTS AND THE SUBALTERNS: WOLLO PROVINCE IN ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 0504-02]
“The history written till now is one-sided, partial and not showing the true picture of the low-level group in society”. (Sahoo, 2014:85) For that matter existing histories are partial, presenting only a one small part while marginalizing the majority of the society. In many countries and societies while the ruling elite dominated historical narration, regions who they regarded as ‘inferior’ were marginalized. One such case is the case of Wollo province in Ethiopia.Before the sixteenth century, Wollo had been a center of history, political administration, religion and religious education. Due to such factors, Wollo has been part of the historically dominant regions in Ethiopia. The expansion of Islam and the settlement of the Oromo people in the sixteenth century in the province totally changed the socio-political atmosphere of Wollo. Its domination by Muslims and Oromo caused Wollo to be marginalized by the Christian population of the north. In many of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries recordings, Wollo was described as a “Galla” and Islam province. These narrations defined Wollo as a province infected by the permanent stain of “Galla” while labeled the northern provinces of Begemder, Gojjam, and Tigray as pure Habesha provinces. (Yates, 201:91). Such thoughts and narrations led to the marginalization of the province. Wollo, a region which was once part of the historically dominant groups later was excluded from central Ethiopian politics and historical narration due to its ethnic and religious backgrounds. In the earliest recordings of the historically dominant groups, Wollo was not properly represented as it was regarded as a Muslim and “Galla” province. In much of the recently recorded literature on the Oromo in the post 1991 period, the internal events of Wollo have been ignored. These recordings considered Wollo as part of the Amhara province. Thus the socio-political history of Wollo province has been left in between the dominants and the subalterns of the country. This article looks how and in what way Wollo is left between the dominants and the subalterns.