Use the "back" button of your browser to return to the list of abstracts.
[PANEL] 0505 ETHNIC IDENTITIES OF AMHARA REGION
Organizers:
Cressida MARCUS, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford, UK
Paper presenters:
AYENEW Fenta; AMARE Sewnet Minale; DAWIT Yosef; Cressida MARCUS; TEZERA Tazebew
Over the past twenty-five years Amhara ethnicity has been a lightning rod of contention. Yet it has been also in a political hibernation. To this point, the Amhara are depicted as not raising their heads above the parapets of the sainted churches of Gondar (Marcus 2002). In Remapping Ethiopia, Cressida Marcus then wrote about a cleaving to the Orthodox Church, and a correlated sense of political dispossession. In the decade that elapsed, with the Church growth unabated, people’s sense of religiosity and denominationalism were observably paramount. In August 2016, we witnessed traditional bravado, and a mixture of terror and protest; all of which signals that the Amhara became mobilized as an entity. This has been long in the making. Undertaking to understand the background to that recent unrest and flash points of protest, requires researchers to consider not just the claims made; but to think through a majority culture, and revisit ethnic identity throughout Amhara Region.
Understanding ethnic being and becoming is now a compelling project as it can be felt and found as currents in contemporary society. Understanding its being and becoming has been an analytical exercise undertaken by only a few political scientists and anthropologists, notably Chernetsov. This deliberation took place au courante with the introduction of ethnic federalism, and was a precursor to the reality of the shift to ethnic representation. Previously we were relying on reflections about the relevance of historical happenings and the consequences of Amharan imperialism at the time of the centenary of Adwa. Then, for example, at the 13th ICES in Kyoto, the discourse of Amhara ethnicity was one that pivoted on national enmity and how it is related to a national identity. Now, in the public arena, we have witnessed uprisings in Amhara region that have come about because resentments are identified with ethnic identity issues. ‘Being and Amhara is not a Crime’, is now a general outcry, becoming the name tag for mobilization. Yet, we must make clear that the politics of resentment is but one capacity that generates multi-ethnic mobilization in Ethiopia.
This author once asked whether or not ethnicity is a top down political process, and, is it heightened or resolved by ethnic regionalisation and state co-ordinated ethnic cleavage (Marcus 1998).
This has now evolved. In 2018, we will consider what sort of trajectory has arisen during the intervening years. Now we see that in Amhara Region itself, majority and minority are being represented by populist slogans and sentiments. Ethnic consciousness is now the groundswell, as it was not at the time of the transitional government. Then, the Kemant were not well organised, and the wishes of the Welkait were not heard. Indeed, some minorities did not want political representation at all, being too afraid of exposure. Overall, explanation and observations about interconnections of various claims to authenticity, minority status, and majority will and destiny, are to be explored by the panellists. Do the intellectual and political elites, regard themselves as the architects of the ethnic political agenda? Participants from Amhara regional universities (Wello, Bahir Dar, Gondar) will be encouraged to participate. We will ask, whether it is so that the generating of voices appears to be by an intellectual elite, who are predisposed to contend with ideological representations. Furthermore, does this responsibility have much of a connection to speak of with the politics of resistance and resentment in places such as Amba Giorgis? What are those longstanding and also recently discovered resentments of minorities? Who are the guardians of the consciousness of the Weyto, or Kemant, for example? How do Muslim Amhara view themselves in relation to their majority counterparts? Are these untold stories? Relating these group experiences to the question of what is ethnicization, the panel will converge on the issue of cultural cohesion and context within the Region and its bordering areas. Panellists are also encouraged to consider the politics of resentment in tandem with the creation of human rights awareness, the effects of population growth, as well as territoriality.
In retrospect, at the 2015 AEGIS themed conference 'Collective Mobilizations: Contestation, Resistance, Revolt' (Sorbonne, Paris); the example of sustained research in Gondar focused on the expansion of the city, and the building of parishes within the masterplan area. Since then, the seemingly lesser undercurrent of ethnic representation erupted. Convening this panel for the 20th ICES to be held in Mekelle is timely because it will allow for an educated open debate to be moderated, and to be undertaken with the aim to bring together specialist knowledge about group cohesion. We will come together to ask whether, in between the fault lines, there is a river that runs deeper than the politics of resentment. That is to say, what that means for the Amhara Region in the future as it continues to define its representation.
***
A HISTORY OF AWI PEOPLE (GOJJAM AGAWS) FROM ANCIENT TO 1974 [Abstract ID: 0505-01]
This paper deals with the history of the Awi people, focusing on the origin and settlement of Awi People in Gojjam, their struggle for identity survival, and the course of Christianization and Amharization . Amde-Tsion was the first Ethiopia king who attempted to conquer the Awi People (Gojjam Agaws) during 14th century. However, he was not successful in conquering the region and his effort of conquest was not persistent so that the Awi people remained autonomous. A danger to their autonomy came when Gonder became a seat for the Ethiopian state during the 17th century. Agaw territories in Gojjam and Gonder became easily accessible to military forces of the state that targeted exploitation of rich resources of the region. Gonderine kings launched persistent wars of conquest and Christianization that continued from the reign of Susneyos (1607—1632) to the reign of Iyasu the Great (1682—1706). The end result of this persistence was incorporation of Gojjam Agaws beginning from the last decades of seventeenth century and Christianization of the region. During the Era of Princes Agaw Midir became a bone of contention between the regional lords of Gojjam, particularly Damot and Guardians of Gonder kings, because the Agaw- inhabited regions of Agaw Midir and Metekel were resourceful areas that attracted the eyes of different regional lords. After the conquest, the Agaws supplied Gonder with cattle, butter, honey, and different agricultural produce. Thus, Gonderine rulers did not want the region of Agaws to fall under the rule of the regional lords of Gojjam, particularly Damot. Agaw Midir and Metekel fell under the rule of Gojjam ruling families with rise of Ras Adal Tessem (Nigus Tekle Haimanot) to power since 1870s. Thus, Agaws fell under Gojjam’s regional administration until the fall of Ras Hailu in 1932 and then under the appointees of Emperor Haile Sillassie. To organize this paper, the researcher used primary and secondary sources collected during his senior essay and MA thesis works that focused on the history of Gojjam Agaws. The researcher further enriched the sources with additional materials collected during the course of dissertation research and critically investigated and analyzed in order to organize this paper.Generally, this paper intended to increase our knowledge of ethnic identities in Ethiopia and their long history of struggle to maintain their identities. The long history of the Gojjam Agaws to survive and maintain their identity by occupying western parts of Gojjam that constituted for Agaw Midir and parts of Metekel Awraja is documented here. Further, this paper will serve as a stepping-stone for other researchers who engaged in ethnographic studies in Ethiopia.
**
AMHARA REGION POPULATION CHANGE: IMPLICATION TO DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND [Abstract ID: 0505-06]
Population is one of the most important variables of development. Matching a nation’s population with existing socio-economic development and environmental resource is also one of the priority areas of governments. A high population growth rate induces increased demand for resources and the rate at which these resources are exploited. In developing countries, the traditional resource-use practices have led to the near-destruction of the environment in lands long settled by sedentary agriculturalist. In this paper, population change of Amhara Region (size, growth rate, and age and sex structure) between 1994 and 2007 Censuses and the results of EDHS are discussed. With a total population of more than 19 million in 2012, Amhara is the second most populous regional state in Ethiopia. Over the last decade, family planning (FP) services and investments essential for improving the health of women and children have increased rapidly in the region, fostering economic benefits and maximizing gains in other development sectors. According to the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS), in Amhara, women are now having 3.7 children on average, compared with a total fertility rate (TFR) of 5.9 more than a decade earlier. This shows that population growth will affect the Amhara region’s social and economic goals and strategies during the next three decades, but the rate of this demographic change will be influenced by current and future fertility trends.
**
CONTESTING THE PAST AND NEGOTIATING THE FUTURE: ETHNICITY, ETHNIC RELATIONS AND IDENTITY TRANSFORMATION OF THE QEMANT [Abstract ID: 0505-02]
This study examines how state ethnic policies and political ideologies shape interethnic interactions and ethnic identity re/construction. Based on diachronic perspective and qualitative research methodology, it scrutinizes the changes and continuities in ethnic relations and ethnic boundary transformation between the Qemant and the Amhara in the pre and post 1991 periods. The Qemant in the past were relatively “culturally independent and socially and politically semi-autonomous from the surrounding dominant Amhara” (Gamst 1968: 3). Especially, the ancestral religious belief and associated practices were key ethnic integrative mechanisms serving as a means of ethnic identification and behavioral regulation of ethnic members. Religious difference marked by the notion of purity and impurity largely dictated interactions and boundaries between the Qemant and the neighboring Amhara. However, the unitary and integration-oriented state ethnic policies that characterized different regimes of Ethiopia since the mid 19th century led to the blurring of the boundary between the Qemant and the Amhara. By privileging diversity through the recognition of multidimensional ethnic rights, ethnic federalism as a new political ideology of the post-1990s brought change in the nature of relationships between the Qemant and the Amhara. As the notion of behér (lit. ethnicity) got crystallized in, ethnic actors began to see religion and ethnicity separately and the ethnic boundary began to be re-conceptualized and reframed differently. The historical, political, ideological, and symbolic accounts became self-recounted so as to reanimate the boundary and justify each distinct ethnic category. The reactivated boundary in the form of the identity quest movement of the Qemant and ethnic otherness resulted in tensions and conflicts. In general, state ethnic policy of diversity management has different implications for self ethnic perceptions and definitions, interethnic identifications and interactions as well as territorial conceptions of ethnic groups.
**
ETHNIC INTERACTION AND INTEGRATION IN METEKEL, NORTHWEST ETHIOPIA, 1898—1991 [Abstract ID: 0505-05]
This paper investigates socio-economic institutions in Metekel that bound different ethnic groups together over nearly a century, from 1898 to 1991. It tries to show how ethnic interaction and integration between institutions like Mijim or Shimya, Wodaj, Michu, and Harma Hodha took place during this period. Metekel is one of the Ethiopian regions where multi-ethnic societies coexisted for centuries. Of these ethnic groups, Gumuz and Agaws were the earliest inhabitants of the region. The other ethnic groups that settled in the 13 regions, include the Shinasha from the 15th century, the Oromo from the 18th century, and the Amhara from the1880s. The first Amhara settlers were a military elite, whose numbers grew following Nigus Tekle Haimanot’s military conquest of the region in 1898. Settlement programs that took place in the region in the 1960s and 1985/6 brought more ethnic groups into the Metekel region. Some that came to the region because of the 1985/6 Pawe settlement program included Kambatta and Hadya, from the Southern Shoa region. To organize the paper, the researcher collected and critically analysed data from the available primary and secondary sources. The research demonstrated that Oromo, Shinasha, Agaw, and Gumuz had strong social ties that bound them together over the course of history in the region. Generally, this paper will increase our knowledge of ethnic diversity and interaction in Ethiopia, particularly North-West Ethiopia, Metekel region or the western part of former Gojjam province. It will also provide a stepping-stone for other researchers to undertake further investigations in the region.
**
TABOT CHRISTIANITY: ETHNICITY, REGIONALISM AND ORTHODOX DENOMINATIONALISM [Abstract ID: 0505-04]
Amhara and Tigrey regions have a history of being religiously entwined, and while historically the political landscape has changed over time, the Orthodox Church as a contemporary organisation continues this brotherhood. Today, as will be described in the paper, any ethnic politicising, unity politics, or ecclesiastical infighting, has no place in the lives of ordinary laity. The Church is not the site of dissention but rises above, with its ideology of transcendence, and instead can be seen to be an institution that fosters sociability, and is a wellspring of hope and love. By contrast, in what ways ethnic federalism impacts respective neighbours to consider each to his own, concerns majority and minorities alike. Minority rights in Amhara Region have become a flashpoint for now. Majority rights also, while not sharing the same agenda, are in the minds of many. Taking a step back, we shall consider that these historical regions, have been home to the Orthodox Church and so share a commonality. They constitute the historical heartland of a denominationalism. This view can be challenged by the independence of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, and other schisms; however, overall, the Orthodox system of liturgical synchrony and geographical conformity, means that it is an abiding source of stability. It is this, that connects the regional and the parochial, and is of concern to the researcher. This paper will offer insight into Tabot Christianity, as a totemic institution. In an anthropological dimension, the bastion of majority culture is also a local force of primordial sentiment. Based on sustained research, and fresh field work to be undertaken in 2018, Marcus will attempt to bring together the cultural hegemony and sociological importance of the Church. Given that there are many ethnic identities in Amhara Region and not just one: the Church offers a singularity, and is to be described in the paper as a haven of cosmological ideation and liturgical regularity. While, in the past, Amhara identity has been identified with either a vilified historical imperialism, or a national identity that has been under threat from ethnic federalism; on the ground observation will reveal how people are cleaving to an orthodox identity that is popular and not overly political, because it is concerned with the fundamentals of life and death, and the instrumentalism of piety. The researcher posits that It is desirable or popularly politicised with regard to ethnic tension and identity politics. Indeed, as this author suggested a decade ago in the International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, people turn away from ethnic politics towards the haven of religious experience. This paper will locate the mood and describe ethnographically, the instrumentalism of the Church; so as to argue that this offers an alternative to the politics of ethnic resentment.
**
THE IDEA OF AMHARA IDENTITY [Abstract ID: 0505-03]
Discerning the ethnic dimensions of politics is rightly considered as indispensable to understanding contemporary Ethiopian politics. The Ethiopian political landscape since the 1960s was marked by the dominance of “competing ethno-nationalisms”. Most, not to say all, of these ethno-nationalist movements are underpinned by a common hatred of the ‘Amhara’. To put it in other words, the nationalist movements that engulfed Ethiopia were based on the otherness of the Amhara. The nationalist movements claimed that their national territories were incorporated, colonized by the Ethiopian ‘empire’. In addition, the alien Amhara, the generic name for all non-nationals, were also accused of domination over others beyond their own locality. Beginning from the early 2010s, however, a massive invention of an Amhara ‘national’ identity has taken place. To be exact, there already were several ways in which Amharaness was defined. Amharaness was defined essentially in religious and cultural terms. Nonetheless, that has changed basically in the context of the post-1991 political dispensation. This study focuses upon examining the trajectories of the Amhara identity. The argument here is that the idea of Amhara-ness was transformed in the course of history from a particular identity for the Amhara living in Wollo to a national identity without firm geographical borders. Importantly, to be Amhara did not necessarily mean living in Wollo. In fact, there are also other identities in Ethiopia. Nonetheless, Amharaness is more open, tolerant and inclusive than all others. And, recent attempts at creating a particularistic identity are mere aberrations.