Political Transition and the Rise of Amhara Nationalism in Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 1036-1050
Author(s):  
Bantanyehu Shiferaw Chanie ◽  
John Ishiyama

Ethiopia is currently undergoing a significant political transition, a transition that began with the ascendency of Abiy Ahmed as a new chairman of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and Prime Minister of the country. In a span of a little over a year, bold political reforms have been introduced. At the same time, these reforms have exacerbated ethnic tensions in the country. In a country that has experimented with ethnic federalism and where ethnicity is the main political organizing principle, the pressure towards ethno-national political movements is quite strong. This pressure has transformed the political identity of many groups, including the Amhara. Despite its longtime role as a major constituency for pan-Ethiopianist movements, many Ethiopians claim that the Amhara, the second largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, has recently exhibited a trend towards ethnonationalism. In this paper we explore two questions. First, is there evidence that an Amhara nationalism is emerging? And if so, what may be causing this? Using recent data from both the Afrobarometer and World Values Survey, we find a growing sense of defensive Amhara nationalism among Amhara respondents, although there is no indication of a general abandonment of the “Ethiopianist ( Ethiopiawinet)” ideal. We argue that this defensive nationalism is a product of a “security dilemma” dynamic facing the Amhara as the result of the continuation of the “Oppressor/Oppressed” narrative that has been adopted by the EPRDF regime. This ethnonational appeal resonates with young Amhara males, and those who believe that their group has been unfairly treated by the current regime.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-218
Author(s):  
Nur Zaini

Political identity refers to a group or individual whose existence is seen through the symbols that indicate the existence of a particular group or individual. These symbols are in the forms of ethnic group, ethnicity, religion, language, culture, custom, habit, and party color. Political identity is a construction that determines the position of the subject's interest within the ties of the political community. This study aims to describe the characteristics and to find out the attempts conducted by Jerieng Malay ethnic group in order to strengthen their existence as a political identity unit. This study applied the theory of political identity proposed by T. K. Oommen who uses the term ethnification in the study of ethnic group and its dynamics. According to him, ethnification is a process that attempts to connect territory and culture. The method used in this study wasdescriptive qualitative. Further, the result of this study shows that in the process of characteristic development and the strengthening attempt conducted by Jerieng Malay ethnic group, there has been a re-ethnification in which the ethnification is not fully developed. Ethnification within the Jerieng Malay ethnic group is still fragmented in which a particular group has attempted to re-ethnize the local identity. However, this generates a fragmentation in society as the consequence of the deprivation of the historical division of local identity.


1994 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-328
Author(s):  
Magdel le Roux

AbstractPresent discussions about the history of Israel pay a great deal of attention to the question of Israel as an ethnic group with a prominent, distinguishable and unique identity. By means of empirical facts, this article aims to show that the Israelite tribes were subjected to many different and divergent influences during the settlement period which contributed towards their identity. Because of limited space this article will concentrate only on the political identity but it does not deny the other important historical dimensions pertaining to the discussion. The political situation is therefore an instrument to illustrate that ethnical identity is not shaped in a vacuum, but is dependent upon events taking place in their vicinity. They form part of an allencompassing process. The conclusion drawn from this discussion is that Israel should not be understood as an identifiable entity, because history does not allow existing identities to stagnate, but strives to affirm and to renew.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristián Parker

The role of religion in Latin American politics can no longer be interpreted with reductionist schemes. The faithful—citizens—are combining faith and politics in unprecedented ways, and churches and denominations are no longer factors of political identity. The reconfiguration of new social and political movements interweaves complex linkages with the religious. The transformations of the political field and especially of democratic processes have reshaped identities in a context of increasing religious and cultural diversity with relatively less Catholic presence and greater Evangelical presence. Institutional secularization and religious pluralism seem to go hand in hand with a new cleavage between religion and politics.La presencia de lo religioso en el campo político latinoamericano ya no puede ser interpretada con esquemas reduccionistas. Los fieles—ciudadanos—entremezclan fe y política de maneras inéditas, y las iglesias y denominaciones ya no son factor de identidad política. La re-configuración de los nuevos movimientos sociales y políticos entretejen vinculaciones complejas con lo religioso. Las transformaciones del campo político y en especial de los procesos democráticos han redefinido las identidades en un contexto de diversidad religiosa y cultural creciente con menor presencia relativa católica y mayor presencia evangélica. Secularización institucional y garantía del pluralismo religioso parecen ir de la mano con un nuevo clivaje entre religión y política.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Susilowati ◽  
Zahrotunnimah Zahrotunnimah ◽  
Nur Rohim Yunus

AbstractPresidential Election in 2019 has become the most interesting executive election throughout Indonesia's political history. People likely separated, either Jokowi’s or Prabowo’s stronghold. Then it can be assumed, when someone, not a Jokowi’s stronghold he or she certainly within Prabowo’s stronghold. The issue that was brought up in the presidential election campaign, sensitively related to religion, communist ideology, China’s employer, and any other issues. On the other side, politics identity also enlivened the presidential election’s campaign in 2019. Normative Yuridis method used in this research, which was supported by primary and secondary data sourced from either literature and social phenomenon sources as well. The research analysis concluded that political identity has become a part of the political campaign in Indonesia as well as in other countries. The differences came as the inevitability that should not be avoided but should be faced wisely. Finally, it must be distinguished between political identity with the politicization of identity clearly.Keywords. Identity Politics, 2019 Presidential Election


Author(s):  
Michael N. Barnett

How do American Jews envision their role in the world? Are they tribal—a people whose obligations extend solely to their own? Or are they prophetic—a light unto nations, working to repair the world? This book is an interpretation of the effects of these worldviews on the foreign policy beliefs of American Jews since the nineteenth century. The book argues that it all begins with the political identity of American Jews. As Jews, they are committed to their people's survival. As Americans, they identify with, and believe their survival depends on, the American principles of liberalism, religious freedom, and pluralism. This identity and search for inclusion form a political theology of prophetic Judaism that emphasizes the historic mission of Jews to help create a world of peace and justice. The political theology of prophetic Judaism accounts for two enduring features of the foreign policy beliefs of American Jews. They exhibit a cosmopolitan sensibility, advocating on behalf of human rights, humanitarianism, and international law and organizations. They also are suspicious of nationalism—including their own. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that American Jews are natural-born Jewish nationalists, the book charts a long history of ambivalence; this ambivalence connects their early rejection of Zionism with the current debate regarding their attachment to Israel. And, the book contends, this growing ambivalence also explains the rising popularity of humanitarian and social justice movements among American Jews.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Van Dung ◽  
Giang Khac Binh

As developing programs is the core in fostering knowledge on ethnic work for cadres and civil servants under Decision No. 402/QD-TTg dated 14/3/2016 of the Prime Minister, it is urgent to build training program on ethnic minority affairs for 04 target groups in the political system from central to local by 2020 with a vision to 2030. The article highlighted basic issues of practical basis to design training program of ethnic minority affairs in the past years; suggested solutions to build the training programs in integration and globalization period.


2020 ◽  
pp. 74-86
Author(s):  
Alexandra Arkhangelskaya

The history of the formation of South Africa as a single state is closely intertwined with events of international scale, which have accordingly influenced the definition and development of the main characteristics of the foreign policy of the emerging state. The Anglo-Boer wars and a number of other political and economic events led to the creation of the Union of South Africa under the protectorate of the British Empire in 1910. The political and economic evolution of the Union of South Africa has some specific features arising from specific historical conditions. The colonization of South Africa took place primarily due to the relocation of Dutch and English people who were mainly engaged in business activities (trade, mining, agriculture, etc.). Connected by many economic and financial threads with the elite of the countries from which the settlers left, the local elite began to develop production in the region at an accelerated pace. South Africa’s favorable climate and natural resources have made it a hub for foreign and local capital throughout the African continent. The geostrategic position is of particular importance for foreign policy in South Africa, which in many ways predetermined a great interest and was one of the fundamental factors of international involvement in the development of the region. The role of Jan Smuts, who served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and from 1939 to 1948, was particularly prominent in the implementation of the foreign and domestic policy of the Union of South Africa in the focus period of this study. The main purpose of this article is to study the process of forming the mechanisms of the foreign policy of the Union of South Africa and the development of its diplomatic network in the period from 1910 to 1948.


Author(s):  
Nurit Yaari

This chapter looks at theatrical productions created in the wake of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, which sought to convey the shock that permeated Israeli society as a result, and to provide theatrical responses to help the grieving community come to terms with his death. The chapter analyses the theatrical oeuvre of four post dramatic theatre creators—Ruth Kanner, Ilan Ronen, Rina Yerushalmi, and Hanan Snir—who saw Greek classical tragedy as a vast artistic arena where the political, the humanistic, and the artistic-performative merge, encompassing present and past, myth and history. Moreover, classical Greek tragedy allowed them to project their most disturbing concerns about the Israeli present and future by tearing apart the well-known texts, deconstructing their dramatic templates, and editing, adapting, revising, and redesigning their content in the decades after Rabin’s assassination, when hope gave way to despair.


Author(s):  
Kristin A. Hancock ◽  
Douglas C. Haldeman

Psychology’s understanding of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people has evolved, become more refined, and impacted the lives of LGB people in profound ways. This chapter traces the history of LGB psychology from the nineteenth century to the present and focuses on major events and the intersections of theory, psychological science, politics, and activism in the history of this field. It explores various facets of cultural and psychological history that include the pathologizing of homosexuality, the rise of psychological science and the political movements in the mid-twentieth century, and the major shifts in policy that ensued. The toll of the AIDS epidemic on the field is discussed as is the impact of psychological research on national and international policy and legislation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document