Ethiopia is an ancient country with a number of peculiarities. Conceptualizations and impacts of multiculturalism in the. Ethnic federalism and ethiopian federalism in particular is hotly contested. Ethnic federalism in ethiopia part2 somalinationalregionalstatd jijiga, ethiopia october1999 bymarcmichaelson thesomaliregionisamongethiopiaspoorest,leastdevelopedandmost politicallytroubled areas. Ethnic federalism has been exploited to plant division among ethnic groups so.
Multinational federalism is the only option for ethiopia. Ethiopia adopted ethnic federalism and restructured the regions along ethnic lines as. There was no option for the people to have any other option rather coerced to be ruled by one group and later party. The official discourse of ethiopian ethnic federalism and multicultural policies has emphasized the liberal values of.
The eprdfs ethnic federalism has not dampened con flict, but rather. It has been governed by several emperors until the overthrow of. Pdf the original sin of ethiopian federalism researchgate. To do this, strong good governance and democratic institutions are very important. All sources and materials used are duly acknowledged and are properly referenced.
The system of government that south africa has adopted has important elements of federalism. The regime transformed the hitherto centralised state into the federal democratic republic and also redefined citizenship, politics and identity on ethnic grounds. Being one of the most diverse nations in the world, ethiopia is not an exception to be free from ethnic conflicts due to its weak political. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Pdf ethnicbased federalism in ethiopia and its impact on. History and ideology 57 selfadministration through regional autonomy. The aim of this article is to examine the prevalence of ethnic conflict in ethiopia and to evaluate the potential causes of the conflicts that followed in the past twentyfive years. Related terms are multiethnic federalism and ethnofederalism. Federalism can be defined in various ways and therefore different identifying features can be listed.
I declare that institutional recognition and accommodation of ethnic diversity. Conceptualizations and impacts of multiculturalism in the ethiopian. This consensus has come as a result of the change in attitudes toward the practical results of the system. March 2012, focuses on the challenges of multiculturalism and politics of recognition from the perspective of political societies today. The volume particularly explores the implications of the recent european debate on multiculturalism and the strategies on how new democracies deal with the imperative of diversity.
Abstract in multiethnic country, respect of diversity and ethnic equality is a major tool for national integration. One is the fact that, the country was ruled by unitary system for a very long period. It is historical that, ethiopia experienced two systems of administration. Posted in africa, analysis, ethiopia, news tagged 2011 ethiopia u. The ideology of ethiopian federalism 26 eprdf s revolutionary democracy ideology and federalism 31 conclusion 36 3 asymmetries and trends of conflicts in federal ethiopia introduction 38 the enduring debate on ethnic federalism 38 asymmetries in ethiopia s ethnic federation 40 politics of resource sharing and its conflict potential 43. Reviews asnake kefales account on federalism and ethnic conflict in ethiopia is valuable and highly recommendable for interested readers.
But federalism may either reduce or exacerbate conflicts. This explains why the ethiopian federalism is often referred to as. Unlike donald levine description of the evolution of multiethnic ethiopia as a proper historical evolution of modern ethiopian that redirected the historical evolution, it seems that ethnic federalism in ethiopia is at menace because of the long years established legacy of unitary state with its centralization of bureaucracy. Weaknesses of ethnic federalism in ethiopia ijhssi.
The case of ethnicbased federalism in ethiopia international. Federalism and the accommodation of ethnic diversity. The imperial period 1974 ethiopia is the only african state never colonised by a foreign power. Multicultural societiesinternational community, in ecomod2003, the. The ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf, led by its chairman and prime minister, meles zenawi, has radically reformed ethiopia s political system.
Although some ethiopian scholars tend to confuse federalism with feudal noncentralization and argue that federalism is not alien to ethiopia,72 the sole response to problems of diversity by. Since the 1990s, multicultural federalism has been studied as a political tool to accommodate ethnic diversity young and unrisd 1999. This type of federation is identified above all with the governance of meles zenawi from the 1990s in ethiopia, where it has sometimes been known as zenawism. Federalism is not a panacea and it does not solve all problems it is important to create a federalist culture, as well as a culture of consensusbuilding, cooperation, tolerance, mutual understanding and respect of differences, diversity and multiculturalism, devotion to the common institutions and creation of a shared identity. Graham smith for example defines federalism as an ideology which holds that the ideal organization of human affairs is best reflected in the celebration of diversity through unity. Pdf territorial autonomy for ethnic groups is an important. Multiculturalism is closely associated with identity politics, the politics of difference, and the politics of recognition, all of which share a commitment to revaluing disrespected identities and changing dominant patterns of representation and communication that marginalize certain groups gutmann 2003, taylor 1992, young 1990. A quarter of a century ago, ethiopia abandoned the excessive centralization of the last century and adopted a. Germany as a model for the multicultural reality in ethiopia. In post1789 french history federalism was linked with counter. However, these pledges were not translated into practice.
Ethiopia is a multinational country with about 85 ethnolinguistic groups and since the 1960s, it suffered from ethnoregional conflicts. Representation of the ethiopian multicultural society in. Ethiopias ethnic federalism is being tested the economist. Ethiopia is also the major contributor more than 86 per cent of the abay nile river, upon which life in egypt and the sudan mainly depends. Amharic is the working language of the federal government. Ethnic federalism and its discontents crisis group.
Multiculturalism stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Federalism and the management of diversity in ethiopia. Ethiopia has 99 problems but ethnic federalism is the least of them. Pdf ethnicbased federalism in ethiopia and its impact. Ever since 1991, ethiopia has departed from the old unitary form of state and has been implementing language based federalism. Teshomes partisan commentary is irresponsible, riddled with factual inaccuracies and removed from the reality as lived by the majority of ethiopians in 2017. Constitution making in south africa and ethiopia yonatan tesfaye fessha the book examines how institutions of multiethnic states have been designed to accommodate ethnic diversity and maintain national unity. Federalism is not a panacea and it does not solve all problems it is important to create a federalist culture, as well as a culture of consensusbuilding, cooperation, tolerance, mutual understanding and respect of differences, diversity and multiculturalism, devotion to the common institutions and creation of.
Instability, corruption, andclanismhaveplagued the regional government. Fortunately, federalism has become a point of national consensus. Introduction in world history it is uncommon to find a modern state formed peacefully, except in most cases of colonial fabricated state experiences. Federalism and the accommodation of ethnic diversity core. It defined ethiopia as a multicultural federation that operates on the basis of ethno. A multicultural education perspective on teacher education policies, curricula, and practices robsan margo egne a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy phd department of education faculty of educational sciences university of oslo 2015. Federalism in south africa and ethiopia is my work and has not been submitted for any degree or examination in any other university or academic institution. The progressive ratification of several international treaties on minority rights had already begun in 1991, immediately. Multiculturalism proved to be the right fix to ethiopia after a disastrous century mesle a. Representation of the ethiopian multicultural society 55 diversity is a fact of life in the ethiopian society. Ethiopia boasts a landscape of extraordinary beauty and varied climatic conditions. Today, federal political systems are increasingly used by states with a multiethnic population as a mechanism to accommodate the demands of their ethnic groups as well as to protect their territorial integrity. Ethiopian ethnic federalism and its implications for.
Using comparative and empirical approaches, this study analyses the impacts of federalism on ethnic conflicts in ethiopia in general and in the somali and benishangulgumuz regions in particular. The adoption of ethnic federalism in ethiopia was closely related with the problem of creating a state structure that could be used as instrument of managing the complex ethnolinguistic diversity of the country. The ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf, led by its chairman and prime minister, meles zenawi, has radically reformed ethiopias political system. Ethiopia is celebrating the 25 th anniversary of its new beginning, the establishment of the multicultural federal republic. Watts, lessons from the pathology of multicultural. Although some ethiopian scholars tend to confuse federalism with feudal noncentralization and argue that federalism is not alien to ethiopia,72 the sole response to problems of diversity by then was nothing but conquest and assimilation. Institutional recognition and accommodation of ethnic. Multiculturalism proved to be the right fix to ethiopia after. Ethnic federalism is a federal system of national government in which the federated units are defined according to ethnicity. Based on this premise, one could argue that, as a country in which more than 80 ethnocultural as well as linguistic groups semela, 2014 live together and as a country with a total population of 73,918,505. During the last half a century, ethiopia has witnessed three regimes that differed from each other in ideology, internal composition, ethnic and social policies. Federalism is the mixed or compound mode of government, combining a general government the central or federal government with regional governments provincial, state, cantonal, territorial or other subunit governments in a single political system.
Federalism and the accommodation of diversity in ethiopia. The ideology of ethiopian federalism 26 eprdf s revolutionary democracy ideology and federalism 31 conclusion 36 3 asymmetries and trends of conflicts in federal ethiopia introduction 38 the enduring debate on ethnic federalism 38 asymmetries in ethiopias ethnic federation 40 politics of resource sharing and its conflict potential 43. In 1994 ethiopia has adopted a new constitution, considered one of the most advanced in terms of provisions for human rights. By structuring conflicts into various categories and comparing two very distinct regions as the somali and benishangulgumuz, the author has reached his goal to increase the debate over the shape of federalism in ethiopia. Another notion which was alien to the ethiopias legal culture was of federalism. Now that the ethnic federal experiment is more than a decade old, it is possible to make a tentative evaluation of its performance.
Multinational federalism is the definite approach to peace and advancement in ethiopia, as it is the best way to deal with the ethiopias ethnic diversity peacefully and democratically. The regime transformed the hitherto centralized state into the federal democratic republic and also redefined citizenship, politics and identity on ethnic grounds. A means for managing or a triggering factor for ethnic conflicts in ethiopia. A comparative regional study routledge studies in federalism and decentralization book 20 kindle edition by kefale, asnake. Ethnic federalism and its discontents crisis group africa report n153, 4 september 2009 page 2 ii. Despite being africas oldest independent country, ethiopia is one of africas poorest states, better known for its periodic droughts, famines, and intermittent civil conflicts.
After emperor haile selassie arranged the federation between both states in 1952, eritrea was increasingly annexed by ethiopia thomaswoolley and keller, 1994. Federalism is regarded as the f word and it is carefully avoided. The current regime in ethiopia adopted ethnic federalism and redesigned the country along ethnic lines as soon as it took political power in 1991. Against the backdrop of its recent political and legitimate history. Is ethnic federalism really the biggest problem in ethiopia. Then, i have courteously included my opinion for the need to amend ethiopias constitution in a wideinclusive manner and thereby reform policies over the following three triggering or very concerning issues. It traces its origin to the kingdoms that emerged in the northern highlands in the fourth century. Nevertheless, the approach of federalism in a way that responds to the ethiopian. Its cultures, diversity and religions form a microcosm of africa. Thus, the eprdf that assumed power in may 1991 after its protracted 17 year armed insurgency undertaken the reconstruction of the ethiopian state. According to articles 1 and 47 of the constitution of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia, the country is a federation of nine ethnolinguistically divided regional states. Its distinctive feature, exemplified in the founding example of modern federalism by the.