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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Conflict and Environmental Stress in Ethiopian History: Looking for Correlations
Author:Rubenson, SvenISNI
Year:1991
Periodical:Journal of Ethiopian Studies
Volume:24
Period:November
Pages:71-96
Language:English
Notes:biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:Ethiopia
Northeast Africa
Subjects:political action
environment
History and Exploration
Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
History, Archaeology
history
environmental degradation
Conflicts
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/41965994
Abstract:Ethiopia's long history presents a series of events where environmental stress and political conflict have interacted and possibly reinforced each other. There are abundant records of famines and serious epidemics. There is also considerable evidence as to the immediate causes of the disasters, whether drought, pests and other natural hazards, or warfare. Past generations have had no problems in articulating the connections. However, while warfare was somehow perceived as manageable, natural disasters were often perceived as supernatural, and generally caused human misery on a much larger scale. The survey presented here ranges from medieval times until the present, paying special attention to the eastern parts of the central highlands from Eritrea through Tigray to Wello, the areas which have suffered most from the droughts and famines of the twentieth century. In Wello and Tigray especially, environmental stress has repeatedly caused or aggravated political conflict. The most prevalent long-term answer to environmental stress and degradation in the Ethiopian region in the past has been migration, mainly from north to south and from east to west. The present-day modern State system, under which economic or ecological 'refugees' take second place, encourages the politicization of population movements which are caused primarily by ecological stress. Ref.
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