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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Deconstruction of 'Tribe': Ethnicity and Politics in Southwestern Ethiopia
Author:Abbink, Jon G.ISNI
Year:1991
Periodical:Journal of Ethiopian Studies
Volume:24
Period:November
Pages:1-21
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs., ills.
Geographic terms:Ethiopia
Northeast Africa
Subjects:ethnicity
Ethnic and Race Relations
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Politics and Government
Anthropology, Folklore, Culture
political science
Social and cultural anthropology
External links:https://hdl.handle.net/1887/9031
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41965991
Abstract:There is, as yet, still no adequate theoretical idiom to conceptualize, in an accepted, conventional manner, the processes conditioning ethnic naming and the political-economic embeddedness of cultural complexities. The traditional primordial-mobilization dichotomy in ethnic studies, with its heuristic and descriptive advantages, remains attractive. Nonetheless, it would be advantageous for future anthropological studies of ethnic groups and relations to focus on the processes of infrastructural political-ecological conditioning of ethnic labels and their symbolic use. An explanation in terms of the psychological, affective validity of ethnicity is at most a derivative of such a process and has more to do with the individual experience rather than the collective aspects of ethnicity. The case of Maji 'awraja' (subprovince) in southwestern Ethiopia, where the author conducted fieldwork in 1988-1990, serves as illustration. The ethnonyms in use here primarily reflect a history of politico-ecological conflict between various groups of different composition and not a smooth transfer of cultural heritages within well-defined 'tribes', despite a popular local image to the contrary. State discourse and policy plays a crucial role in the process. The discussion is restricted to four groups: the Dizi, the Tishana-Me'en, the Surma (or Tirma) and the Northerners (or 'Amhara'). Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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