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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Decentralization as a solution to the problem of cultured diversity: an example from Ethiopia
Author:Hamer, JohnISNI
Year:2007
Periodical:Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:77
Issue:2
Pages:207-225
Language:English
Geographic term:Ethiopia
Subjects:State-society relationship
Sidamo
political history
External links:https://doi.org/10.3366/afr.2007.77.2.207
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_the_journal_of_the_international_african_institute/v077/77.2hamer.pdf
Abstract:The failure of the nation-State in sub-Saharan Africa has been a topic of great concern in recent years. In this article the author explores in detail the historical experience of one ethnic group in the Horn of Africa, the Sidama, and shows how the nation-State has had a comparatively negative effect upon another group in southern Ethiopia, the Maale. For the Sidama, historic disparagement by the State, though discouraged by the present Ethiopian government, is shown to continue into the present in regard to dispute settlement and policymaking by the elders. The Maale, though different in culture and social structure, experienced similar distrust and disparagement in Ethiopia's revolutionary period (1974-1991). In the case of the Sidama, indications are that this has continued into the post-revolutionary period of State-sponsored parliamentary democracy. As a solution the author proposes the 'indirect State' as a means not simply of maintaining the past culture of the Sidama, but also of encouraging the people to originate change for themselves. Rather than institutional edicts being imposed from above by the nation-State, the people will, in conjunction with other ethnic groups, negotiate both vertically and horizontally to reach consensual agreements for change. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]
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