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[PANEL] 0701 HISTORICAL DIMENSIONS OF CITIZENSHIP AND BELONGING IN ETHIOPIA AND THE HORN OF AFRICA
Organizers:
Nicola CAMILLERI, University of Pavia, Italy
Alexander MECKELBURG, Hamburg University, Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies, Germany
Paper presenters:
Nicola CAMILLERI; Valentina FUSARI; Katrin BROMBER; René LEFORT; SISAY Asefa
Citizenship is both a process as much as it is an institutional manifestation. In Ethiopia, as elsewhere, the practices of citizenship have been undergoing significant transformations and changes. These transformations are a core interest of the panel in order to understand the changing relations of people with the state. Citizenship as a legal-institutional perspective questions how people are being located in national territories by a legal framework and constitutional arrangement. Citizenship may equally help to understand how people are being subjected to a national core, and which collective rights and duties people have vis-a-vis the state, and how to exercise these rights.
The panel explores citizenship as a theoretical tool with regard to the historical development of the Ethiopian state. It aims at discussing citizenship and national belonging in ethnohistorical, historical and legal perspectives. Object of the investigation are legal relations between people and the state in its different manifestations, as well as emotive aspects of belonging to the national community.
The panel invites comparative historical research on legal transformations from e.g. the Nationality law of 1930, consecutive constitutions, imperial legacies of subjectood (e.g. sudditanza during the Italian occupation), and on changing perceptions and practices until the present day. Participants may also emphasize local perspectives focusing on the historical expansion of citizenship by looking at local contexts and negotiations with the central authorities. In the context of the panel questions of regional belonging may also be discussed, particularly focussing on historical experiences of e.g. cross-border communities, settlers, migrants and refugees in the Horn of Africa. The panel will pursue questions of access to, perceptions towards, and conflicts over citizenship and belonging, both past and present.
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COLONIAL SUBJECTS. RACIAL DISCOURSE AND INSTITUTIONAL SEGREGATION DURING THE ITALIAN RULE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA. [Abstract ID: 0701-03]
Writing the history of citizenship in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa in modern age can't be done without also taking into account the years of foreigner domination during the Italian colonial rule (1880s-1940s). These years left long-lasting traces in the societies of the region. The Italian colonial rule was based on a racial discrimination of the native population, which was strictly excluded from the metropolitan citizenship. The native population was supposed to be – according to the dominant ideology of the time – inferior with respect to its race and its civilisation. This principle was the milestone of the colonial rule of the Italian kingdom, in this not being the Italian rule different from other European colonial powers. The present contribution will focus on the temporal and spatial dimension of the citizenship regulation during the Italian rule in the Horn of Africa. Recent research have shown how the costruction of racial hierarchies didn't begin during the Fascist era, as has been long asserted, but continued along at a constant speed since as early as the conquest of the African territories in the 1880s. The origin and development of the racial segregation, that the citizenship regulation pursued, will be analysed in its different temporalities. Besides, the investigation will address the different territories of the Horn of Africa with reference to the citizenship regulation (Eritrea was established as colony in 1890, Somalia in 1908). The purpose is to offer a comparison of the citizenship policy whithin the Italian colonial empire of the „Africa Orientale Italiana“ (established in 1936). The paper aims to anser the questions who was a subject of the Italian colonial rule, what did it mean to be a colonial subject of the Italian kingdom and what did remain of the colonial citizenship policy.
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SLIDING ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP: MAKING AND MOULDING LEGAL AND SOCIAL CATEGORIES IN PRESENT-DAY HORN OF AFRICA [Abstract ID: 0701-01]
In the Horn of Africa, the population of Italian ancestry - recognized or not (yet) - is the result of historical events that have affected the territory, and of citizenship laws in force over time. The size of and the sense of belonging to the Ethiopian-Italian and Eritrean-Italian communities, both real and imagined, have undergone changes due to the relations of these people with the different authorities that decide how they can exercise their rights and duties. As a result, in the Horn, the interplay between the various political and social actors shaped people of Italian descent as a minority and a “different” group that has tended to reproduce itself, even in the post-colonial era. This paper, using an interdisciplinary and quali-quantitative approach, means to analyse the demographic trend of the population of people of Italian descent over time in the Horn. Moreover, with particular regard to the post-independence period, it wants to consider the interest in obtaining Italian citizenship, in relation both to the procedures and motivations that allow to get it, as to the current socio-political environment in today’s Horn, which results in strong migratory outflows. Thus, the interest lies in the point of convergence between the process of inclusion within legal (citizenship) and social (identity) categories and the perception of such inclusion in terms of stigma or resource.
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SOLDIER-CITIZEN TRAINING: THE BOY SCOUTS MOVEMENT IN LATE IMPERIAL ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 0701-02]
Although Boy Scouting was established in Ethiopia as early as 1919, it was after the end of the Italian occupation that the movement gained momentum as an important part of youth training. The experience of military defeat as well as the post-war youth migration into the urban areas, which was conceived of as a security problem, fuelled ideas about taming and disciplining young men by channelling their energy towards building a modern nation. The organization of the Boy Scouts under the Ministry of Education and Fine Arts as well as its coupling with Sports and Physical Education hints at the fact that Boy Scouting and, later, Girl Guiding were considered an integral part of education. In contrast to the Young Mens’ Christian Association (YMCA), which played an active role in citizenship training, too, Scouting aimed at the production of a specific kind of citizen – the soldier-citizen. The contribution specifically looks into discursive and bodily practices around preparedness and defence as part of an anticipated Ethiopian citizen.
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SOME KEY FEATURES OF THE CITIZENSHIP IN RURAL ABYSSINIA: THE 1970’S AND THE 2010’S [Abstract ID: 0701-05]
The presentation will be based on the confrontation of the findings gathered from two main different sources:
- a survey of the few available field research done at the end of the imperial era in rural Tigray, which deal partially or totally with the system of local level politics, and which could give an insight into these systems in the Abyssinian Highlands at that time;
- a field work made during around 10 years since the beginning of the 2000’s in a rural kebele of North Shoa, Amhara region, focusing on the relationship between the local authorities – the mengist – and the peasants. By confronting these two approaches, the presentation will try to pinpoint the evolution – both the modifications and the permanent features - of the perceptions and practices of the citizenship in rural parts of this geo-cultural area of Ethiopia over around 40 years and three regimes’ changes.
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THE CHALLENGE OF BUILDING INSTITUTIONS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONS FOR PROGRESS IN GLOBAL ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE CASE OF ETHIOPIA AND SELECTED AFRICA AND ASIAN STATES [Abstract ID: 0701-04]
The purpose of this investigation is to explore the governance institutions and leadership challenges that retard creativity and progress with effect of trapping Horn of Africa in poverty, food insecurity, foreign aid dependence in spite of the great potential in natural wealth and hardworking people. Governance is a multi-dimensional concept that involves the traditions and institutions under which political authority in a country is exercised. Governance includes the process by which rulers are selected, monitored and replaced, and the capacity of government to effectively formulate and implement sound and inclusive policies, the respect of citizens and the institutions that determine economic and social policies and interaction among citizens. Sustainable development requires good governance that is predictable, open, enlightened, accountable and inclusive of all citizens and operates under the rule of law and justice. Ethiopia had good governance without democracy based on tradition and culture that lasted for centuries and interrupted when she became cold war victim 1974 captured Military Junta supported by former Soviet Union that collapsed in 1991 the same as Derg. The historic Monarchs from Tewdoros to Yohannes, Menelik and Haile Selassie were uniting rulers until that process of evolution was interrupted failed revolution of 1974 when Ethiopia became cold war victim. The historic Ethiopian leaders were building united nation state in their own way against internal regional challenges including effectively defending nation against foreign enemies. But, that evolution toward uniting good conference was interrupted in 1974 by capture of cruel military junta that came to power with reckless overthrow of last Monarch Haile Selassie who was building and modernizing the Ethiopian nation state during his 42 years of rule. Ethiopia failed under Soviet controlled Military Junta captured by foreign ideology Stalinism and Leninism that collapsed in 1991 at the same time the former Soviet Union which disintegrated peacefully pushed by reforming leaders into 15 republics. Good Governance is desirable as goal in its own right beyond being an important means of sustainable development. According the World Bank, Good governance involves: 1. Voice and accountability, 2.Political stability and absence of violence, 3. Government effectiveness: or the capacity of the state to formulate good policies and deliver services effectively, 4. Regulatory quality, 5. Rule of Law and Justice, and 6. Control of corruption. The proposed paper will begin by comparing a few states in Africa such as Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania in governance and poverty indicators. It is intended to promote dialogue and further research by students and scholars on critical issues of governance, leadership, conflict resolution and peace building in developing states in general and African States in particular with applications for other countries. Even though there is resilience in African state communities, that has not translated in economic progress desired due to autocratic and bad governance that varies across states.