The New Ethiopia: Oligarchic Authoritarianism
Welcome to the emerging Ethiopia-an oligarchic authoritarian state that juggles the support and international assistance of an ambivalent west and a regardless China. In the tradition of Marx’s dialectical materialism (an orphan of modernity currently bashed for being Teleological, Universalist and Eurocentric), one thing is evident- every stage of societal development has systemic contradictions and hence sows its seeds of destruction.
Post election 2010, much of the discussion among students of Ethiopian politics was not about the election outcome. Instead, it was about the direction the country is taking given the inevitable ‘win’ of the EPRDF. In fact, the public paid more attention to the internal dynamics of the EPRDF, the new cabinet appointments and the much awaited new faces of EPRDF. We entertained various options. One option for the Front was to develop a mechanism where the old guards would direct the ideological and political trajectory of the party behind the scenes while leaving the drudgery of everyday politics to the newcomers. We were also waiting to see whether there would be a gesture of power handover to the other members of the EPRDF -notably OPDO or ANDM. The most unlikely option was for the Front to convert itself into a united national party which obviously did not come to pass. Path dependency and minority insecurity won the day. TPLF retained its command post and became reluctant to relinquish or give up power to other comrades in arms. What have we learned over the last couple of weeks? EPRDF’s decision was a mixed bag of the first two options. The kibibilosh looks set to shift the power center into none of the primary contenders but rather to the ‘south’, a loose amalgam of small and many ethnic groups. One has to take Ato Dessalegn’s meteoric rise in the ranks of the Front and his appointment to two ministerial portfolios and the Front’s deputy head to reckon with this proposition. But the prime minister’s repeated announcement that he would never retire from party politics reinforces the fact that his shadow will always linger on the corridors of power post 2015.
Now, where would this leave the regime? Some have taken these measures as the ultimate graduation of the regime from an authoritarian regime into a full blown autocracy. The evidence they cite are many. The fact that the top brass of OPDO and ANDM are sidelined; the evident decline in the ministerial positions of TPLF members themselves; and the consolidation of Wzro Azeb Mesfin’s sphere of influence in EFFORT and the central committee of the TPLF are some of the reasons. For many, the personalization of power within the EPRDF has set in motion beginning from the fall out of the TPLF leadership in the aftermath of the Ethio-Eritrean conflict. To quote scholars of African Politics(Christopher Clapham, William Reno, Chabal and Daloz) , EPRDF has gone full course on the path of neo-patrimonialism where the elite lives off the state apparatus itself sapping economic benefits and wielding its monopoly of violence under a strong man. An apt description of this is by John Francois Bayart who named the whole process in Africa as “the privatization of the state”. But is this really so? I have doubts.
Upon consummation, the kibiliosh will definitely de-center the power nuclei with the oncoming of a party veteran who has to build his own power base within the SEPDM and moreover within the ranks of OPDO, ANDM and TPLF leaders. Doing so will be difficult in a condition where the top ANDM and particularly OPDO leaders are begrudging that they did not receive the mantra of power. Neutralizing and luring each of these would be a formidable challenge. The TPLF’s single handed command of the military and security establishment of the country means hard power is still in the hands of the northerners whose Damocles sword will always wave over the head of everybody else. Never in the history of Ethiopia’s armed forces did the ethnicization of the army occur so brazenly. In this again, Ethiopia has come closer to its African sister nations like Nigeria and Uganda where since colonial times; the Army was populated by certain ethnic groups who used their position for control and persuasion purposes. An ethnic monopoly of violence, to use Weberian terms, will hereafter be the political capital the TPLF banks on to remain as a political majority. Any astute attempt to introduce far reaching political and economic reforms that encroach on the interests of this political majority would be met with force. Never would an Ethiopian prime minister wield political power and some clout like Prime Minister Meles did. Attempting so, one would have the fate of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinatwatra of Thailand- a “yellow shirt revolution” and an armed coup. In short, what we have is an ethnically fragmented political elite-begrudging, suspicious and competitive of each other.
We then have the ‘creative crass’ (my term in contrast to Richard Florida’s famous concept the creative class), a group of businessmen, real estate developers, hotel owners, service providers, developmental artists and journalists whose clientelist ambitions are predatory. The creative crass is busy indoctrinating the public about development and transformation; HIV AIDs and other communicable diseases; small trade and micro enterprises; love songs and tips on flirting and dating. Many are the preoccupations of revolutionary democracy! The creative crass reminds me of bossism and machine politics in urban America by the turn of the 20the century-the era of Godfathers.
The influence of the creative crass on the intelligentsia of the country is worrisome. Authoritarianism has crushed the Ethiopian intellectual who, according to Wole Soyinka “is the person that speaks the language of truth to power.” But not in Ethiopia where, as Abiye Teklemariam argues,” intellectuals are made either not to imagine a better alternative or to sell their mind to the highest bidder (The Captive Mind and The Mercenary Mind). The orchestra adjusts itself to the falsetto singer, not the other way round. The intellectual tells what power wants to hear; the interests of power are repackaged as “justice”, “democracy”, “rule of law” or any other marketable value. Thus, Heidegger writes in service of the Führer: “Truth is the revelation of that which makes a people certain, clear, and strong in its knowledge and action.”
Welcome to the emerging Ethiopia-an oligarchic authoritarian state that juggles the support and international assistance of an ambivalent west and a regardless China. In the tradition of Marx’s dialectical materialism (an orphan of modernity currently bashed for being Teleological, Universalist and Eurocentric), one thing is evident- every stage of societal development has systemic contradictions and hence sows its seeds of destruction. Oligarchic authoritarianism seems to have every useful ingredient for such a calamity. The recipe cannot get any more explosive than this. It is a weak state feeding a swathe of ethnic entrepreneurs whose recourse to violence is warranted, given serious attempts to challenge them. Three things may trigger that chain reaction: extreme economic duress, an elite split on a civil-military fault line, or an opposition perestroika.
What is this now?
Well, for years, we’ve been saying better an oligarchical authoritarian state (or some variant) than the silly ethnocentric authoritarianism they started out with, and now we’re slowly getting what we asked for.
I think most analysts have come to the same conclusions as you and Rene Lefort and everyone else has come to about today’s political situation in Ethiopia.
Frankly, there isn’t much more to say on the current situation in Ethiopia. It’s all been said. It’s all been analyzed.
I think where ‘intellectuals’ or anyone for that matter can best contribute now is generating ideas on what the democracy movement can realistically do now. We’ve not put nearly enough effort into moving forward – coming up with strategies and tactics for the opposition.
For example, should not the opposition actively promote further infiltration by the masses into the EPRDF and military and security apparatus? How? What can the peaceful opposition do to create a united front and repair its relations with the diaspora and Ethiopians all over Ethiopia? What can the media and ‘intellectuals’ do to help? Etc.
Would be interested in your thoughts.
I second you on that.
I agree with your points, the intellectuals should come up with tangible strategies and tactics for the people( oppositions).
I enjoyed this piece. The “extreme economic duress” could be the first to come (be the triggering factor) for an ensuing calamity that the author mentioned above, rather than the other two!
What a wonderful article!!! It tells the current political situation of Ethiopia as is. I like the analysis of the “creative crass”. It hits the nail right on the head. We need people like the writer of this article in a country like Ethiopia where even art and literature is captive of the so called “developmental artists”.
Excellent summarisation of politics in Ethiopia.
Dere, this is a sharp analysis. It left me, I must admit, with a devastating feeling about the future. But please help me understand one thing. I always believed that Ethiopia is a peasant society where politics is mostly the everyday, quotidian sort. This requires understanding politics not just in formal organizations and conventional forms but also among ordinary people in rural villages, urban streets, associations, virtual communities, etc. Where is the agency of ordinary people in your otherwise moving analysis? I hope the agency of ordinary folks will put a limit to the ambitious of these authoritarian elites. I am being unnecessarily optimist? Thanks, and see you at the ASA.
Chrystosom and Lal
Gentlemen
You are giving me a tall order, to chart out the ways for future actions of opposition politics..I promise to write more about what i named here an ‘opposition perestroika” but I am sure you would have ideas on how to move forward here too..so dot down some of your ideas and disseminate them too!
Fully accept your challenge…
But we’ve been doing it for years…
Derese,
If you are trying to write an academic paper and you think that you are capable to do so go and find an academic journal to post your article. This is a typical problem of Ethiopian intellectuals they just want to dump whatever they know without considering its relevance. A good writer understands its reader and writes in such a way that it can be understood by its readers. Here your readers are not academicians in your field of study. If you want your article to be read by visitors of this site make it simple and straightforward.
For that matter the message of your article is nonsense. Right now what is happening in Ethiopia is succession of power which has never happened before in the history of the nation. You may disagree but that is the bare fact, deal with it!
Dear Yonas,
I think you know the right problem of Ethiopian intellectuals, but why dont you take the initiative to write an ordinary but relevant article.
Besides, this is a place where people exchange their ideas, you cant say “this is fact and deal with it”, rather try to put your position in a logical way
Stay well,
CC:Chrysostom
Thank you so much for your article. It cleared some of the confusion I had to what is going on in Ethiopia.
Wanted to go back and grab/contibute my share with the Indians and the Chinese etc but it is becoming like ‘the creative mass’ you mentioned (but I also noticed they are not as ethnocentric as they were, they probably regret starting in the first place – which is what I HATED) SO the solution I agree what Chrysostom has suggested… if with this spirit you start a discussion etc…am all for it. I think you both have a lot to offer.
The comment from Yonas above said, “deal with it!” Exactly proving the thesis of Derese that what is emerging is a violent oligarchy! Yonas is or is acting as a typical Tigrean supporter of TPLF. When you don’t accept his arguments he tells you to deal with it! It is really what the current Melese Kibebelosh brings to us too. Melese is telling us, if you don’t accept my arrangement, I have the Tigrean police, the Tigrean army and the Tigrean security lined-up to deal with you!! I admire the academic approach of the major contributors of Addis Neger. To be honest, my interest in Ethiopian politics is not academic. In fact by métier, I can’t be any further than politics. My interest in Ethiopian politics emanates from seeing it as Omni-powerful definer of the life of people of Ethiopia and my country itself. Therefore, I would draw the attention of people who read Derese’s article and Derese himself to a characterization of the current state of Ethiopian political regime as described by Ginbot 7 movement. G7 characterizes the regime of Meles after 2010 election as a “Tigrean Ruling Oligarchy”. Actually, they even have coined an Amahric phrase for it: “ye-Tigre Geji Gujile”. That is what we have and that is what we have to deal with! I am waiting for what Derese will say in his proposed “opposition Perestroika” write-up. I hope he will not disappoint me by ordering the wrong medicine for a disease which he has more else diagnosed correctly.
I havent been able to see the “oligo” part of the analysis. I see an absolute authoritarian a “stationary bandit” in the person of Zenawi and no other individual or group commands power in today’s Ethiopia.
i agree with you. Monarchy more like it. any how thumbs up for mr deresse.
once again…i am nor also able to see the contending ethnic enterpreneurs. Is there any such kind of enterpreneurship in the part of ethnic Amhara intelectuals? I doubt.
it is a nice piece with a good command of english and analsis.
Yonas
If you are having hard time understanding what the writer is trying to say, you have two options: either you need to improve your English or ask some of your friends to explain it to you. But it seems to me that you do not lack the aptitude to comprehend what is stated in the article. Anybody with Basic English knowledge can understand the article. The fact is you are not comfortable with the points raised by the writer. Instead of challenging him on the merits, you prefer to suggest that he should post his article on an academic journal. For many of the visitors of this website, the article is very “simple and straightforward”. (to use your own phrase)
Deal with it!!
Derese,
well done,
Could you elaborate and clarify this , its a bit chunky : ” In the tradition of Marx’s dialectical materialism (an orphan of modernity currently bashed for being Teleological, Universalist and Eurocentric), one thing is evident- every stage of societal development has systemic contradictions and hence sows its seeds of destruction. Oligarchic authoritarianism seems to have every useful ingredient for such a calamity. The recipe cannot get any more explosive than this. It is a weak state feeding a swathe of ethnic entrepreneurs whose recourse to violence is warranted, given serious attempts to challenge them. Three things may trigger that chain reaction: extreme economic duress, an elite split on a civil-military fault line, or an opposition perestroika.”
I must agree to Yonas in that the presentation of arguments should be less acadamic, not interms of content but manner of presentation, If addisneger is to be of interest for an average reader and therefore have some influence. Sometimes some articles tend to assume that the reader is familiar with some sort of models construceted by this scholar or the other, which, honestly is not the case. And I blieve that it takes a genius to understand issues and present them in simple language, . May be most issues we have may not call for such nuanced approach on subtle matters.
The quote from Heidegger sounds accurate. It also sounds like the sort of thing I have read he wrote during his professorial days under the Nazis. Since he never joined the Nazi party, I don’t know how much “service” he provided to Der Fuhrer, by which I assume you meant Hitler rather than others who have been addressed by that title, Leader. He was fired as Rector after nine months and his classrooms were continually spied on. He ended WWII on the Russian front as a janitor in the trenches, which is hardly a reward for any sort of services. That is to say, the cheap shots that have been taken at Heidegger’s expense usually come from those unable to understand his philosophy. They find it easier to indict him for the crimes of the Nazi regime than to understand the code in which he had to speak all during that time.
Whatever shape and attribute you portray for the Woyane’s regime, it is a ruthlessly oppressive government run by myopic maniac people. I wish more time is spent on what should be done. As I see it the Ethiopian society is seriously crippled to be an agent of political change. It reminds me of the desperation of the Israeli people under the brutal opperession of the Roman Empire. The messiah who came to their rescue has seen the defunct society, the moral degradation, their rotten soul, which doomed them for subjugation and misery. We shoudn’t expect a messiah but we need a deep self scrutiny and diagnosis to find out our defects as a society. The Woyane thugs mushroomed in to monster because of our own failings.
100% I agree with Abebe,the only solution of this oligarchy is removing it.i am not intelectual but the article is crystal clear even for ordinary people like me and opposition perestroica means dismanteling TPLF from Ethiopia, thank you Dereje.
Well, there are, obviously, certain issues that should still be improved in the government structure.
If the ‘creative crass’ mentioned here by the author applies to the domineering nature of a certain group of people in the Business Empire, then I would like to second the idea. But I don’t think the emerging of such a controlling group was indeed the government policy. In fact, the most worrying situation in the arena of the Ethiopian politics should be this business Oligarchy. Else, the kibblosh is something that we all should applaud!! A southerner has been elected to get the second power of the country, and if you look into the other ministerial posts, you would hardly find a dominance of one ethnic group over the other.
One of the nature of an Authoritative government is a highly centralized power and a rule of men. Though it is still to get better, the fact on the ground in Ethiopia, at least, show a rule of law. In addition, we do have a highly decentralized government that is unable to be repressive, once politically challenging individuals are into the circle. So the main question is not about the TPLF big men, but about their counter-parts who shared the power. If those individuals happen to be self-assured and posses an influential mentality, then it is undemanding to them to be the central players of the game. Believe it, the government structure is too weak to be Authoritative; It is us who failed to be smart to use the opportunity, and prefer to think as if we are going into an Authoritative leadership.
The business oligarchy, however, is too poisonous, if it starts to dictate the politics.
I have read this paper many moon’s ago and it does not take any intelligence to know for what intention and purpose it was tuned to serve for. Good luck ‘cyber warriors’
SIMPLY-
They (Tigrian Liberation) made sure they have
1- a strong manager ( Zenawi who is trying to mainstream his ideology by recruiting thousands of cadres)
2- the army ( 99.6 % Tigrian Liberation:-))
and they left the building to make $$$$$ Money!
thats all!
selam Derese,
Another great piece my friend. Forget the naysayers like Yonas, we know the TPLF camp is intellectually challenged. We have to use all available analysis to understand the problem our country is in.
As they a problem well defined is half solved.
I am so glad to see the young turks of your generation are employing your sharp minds to the task.
I laughed hard when I read Yonas’ comment “Right now what is happening in Ethiopia is succession of power which has never happened before in the history of the nation.”
Really? Indeed this is a first, to claim succession of power without the top dog relinquishing it!! We can give examples from mengistu’s time where he changed the cabinet including the Prime minister. Of course Atse Hailselassie had reshuffled his cabinet few times; including 5 Prime ministers. Would we call any of that succession.
We are tired of EPRDF folks “teChefenu lamognach-hu”
your friend from across the Ohio river
I agree with Daniel. The past election demonstrated more that the transfer of power from oligarchy to absolute one man dictatorship is completed successfully. No one doubts that the dominant power within EPRDF is TPLF. The ethnic parties within EPRDF be it OPDO, ANDM or SEPDM have insignificant power in the EPRDF ethnic conglomerates. They do not have power base in their constituency either. When we know that, let’s not pretend that the ethnic parties within EPRDF are power contenders; they are absolutely not. The fact that they relegated themselves to the second tier in the power structure minimized the power of their ability mobilizing their own constituency to fight against the upper power tier. Except for petty benefits, the chance of contending for real power among OPDO, ANDM or SEPDM against Meles is minimal. Therefore, it is naïve to expect these weak ethnic parties could crack Meles’ absolute authority.
Meles may think that the classical divide and rule keeps him in power. We should not be deceived by it. All signs indicate that Meles years are very limited.
In contrast, the oppositions have greater risk of running boundless power struggle if suddenly power slips off Meles’ hand. That is why it is imperative that the oppositions should undertake organizational restructuring ASAP. The existing organizational structure of opposition parties (with ethnic parties) far more dangerous to incite dangerous ethnic conflict than EPRDF, which is controlled by Meles absolute power. The opposition should wise up and organize themselves by political ideology rather than ethnicity to avoid future disastrous ethnic conflict. The ethnic parties should honestly negotiate with mutli-ethnic parties to clear any suspicion they might have. They should be better than TPLF and need to recognize that mixing ethnicity and religion with politics is always dangerous.
Dear Derese,
Thank you for your accurate, academic and well observed research. You treaded the reality in ethiopian politics with the relevant literature.
Your article can be consumed by objective readers who really want to obtain something of value on where the hell that poor country is heading to.
Meles and company are creating a mess, unless reverted, they will dismantle the country :if a serious opposition questions their power comes to the scene.
Meles and his group do not hesitate to kill every one againest them.To do so, there sole source is ethnic blind agazi-like soldiers and securtiy forces. These forces are well indoctrinated about Meles being the only person on earth out there to protect the tigrean people from massacre from other-ethiopians.(remember interhamoi)
Your conclusion: is awesome! in a poor country, where population grows at alarming rate and in where there is unfair income distribution and poor economic growth one possibility would be revolution of the economic- oppressed.
The other way, some of the military elite may start to realize the oppression of the people and revolt againest the regime.This possibility ,added with the economic situation of the country, if reinforced by antiwoyanie forces like Gibot 7, hopefully if it succeeds in orchestrating the struggle, would help to gun-down this anti-ethiopia forces.
Yonas,
What is not so clear for you? May be you have some problems with English and you could ask a Tigregna version to understand it well. But anyhow coming to your another comment, why would the writer need to submit his article to any academics website? This is the right platform to reach the intended audience.
Hope people like you will one day come to their senses.
Dear Dereeee,
I must say thank you for such engaging article of yours. Its presentation is so infusing and capable of showing the discourses on the topic with the maximum possible concisions. Of all the many points the article raises, I feel compelled to further your point on the role of the intellectuals in Ethiopia. The reason for that is the temper I sensed from your writing on this group of Ethiopians. Until reading this article I was thinking about myself as a person with the utmost misgiving on the group. But reading your classification “[Ethiopian] intellectuals are made either not to imagine better alternative or to sell their mind to the highest bidder (the captive mind or the mercenary mind)”, I realized that my brother has more.
Assessing the contribution of intellectuals has started to obtain a significant attention of commentators.Local periodical like Tobiya particularly was the forum of such discussion before 2005. At one time, the debate goes to the extent of questioning if there is what one can call sincerely intellectual group in Ethiopia. Indeed, as you may know one of your mentors Dr Fekade Azeze coined a word and said that there are FIDELAWIYAN not intellectuals. I see the spirit of the debate as a message being communicated to the group to notify its failure in discharging its duty. Indeed intellectual silence has prevailed in the country. Whether this silence is just an intellectual hibernation or final blow death is a matter to be seen in the future. For the time being, in almost the entire country’s affair a real touch of intellectual exercise has become in evident.
Yet is it exhaustive to explain the silence with captive mind and mercenary mind alone? What if there are other factors that have to be traced from the relation between the people and the intellectual? To what extent do the people and intellectuals of the country trust each other? The fate of the intellectuals during the chaos of the Ethiopian Revolution and the summarily expulsion of university teachers testify the fact that what ever this group tries to do no one will come to its rescue.
What about the frustrating environment as far as the regime’s good will for improvement is concerned? It may lead some to see taking part in any intellectual activities in the country futile except justifying the regime’s legitimacy. Keeping themselves aloof and denying legitimacy may appear the best strategy than entangling for just fatigue. I think if the isolation of the intellectuals has some thing to do with their conviction in an armed struggle, about which they can not speak loudly, must be explored.
Moreover as for some the political fear have caused their evasion, for others the political dishonesty and lack of integrity must have discomforted and prefer the isolation.
In general Dereeee, I agree with your description of the two types of intellectual in the country. I, nonetheless, sense other types omitted from your analysis.
Lastly I wish if the new trend in the making (oligarchic aristocratic) you mentioned is real and the societal law you raised regarding a development of distractive element within a system works true in our case. The objective fact in our case seems much more the “creative crass” are having unequal symbiosis with the single handed led TPLF. Therefore, elements with in them are dispensed whenever deemed necessary in a way their disappearance even not noted. The guy proved himself a good player in such game by outmatching his “equals” from within let alone those groomed by him from without.
Dereeee, we need you more often on this site.
Hello Derese,
I read your article four times over and still do not quite get it. FOUR times? I mean, how dense can one get! Yes, yes, I know….but that’s the absolute truth and the reason for my writing to seek some explanation that might help the less endowed amongst us.
Your article left me with the same letdown I experienced after a recent visit to the doctor’s office. I went there complaining of backache and general malaise and fatigue in the hope of obtaining some magical combination of wisdom and pharmacy to cure my aches and pains. Instead, I was handed a generic paintbrush that went like this: “You are a human being, and as such, you will one day die of one or more causes, possibly a car crash, a heart attack, plain old age, or a combination of some or all of the above”. In reality, my doctor was not that unspecific, he was however just as unhelpful and, if I may add, even more unforgiving. After endless needle sticks, whirling machines, bright lights and knowing nods and grunts, out came the diagnosis detailed in an alphabet soup of medical lingo – which correctly translated to human language amounts to “ you ain’t exactly a spring chicken lady, live with it!”. If by now you are wondering WT_ is this woman blabbering about, be kind – I have already admitted to being old and stupid.
Back to the article: If I understand your argument correctly (a big if indeed), it goes like this:
Point A (restructuring and decentralization of political power away from the likely bigwigs into the fins of smaller fish)
+ Point B (along with hard military power centered squarely North)
+ Point C (some predatory crassness thrown in)
+ Point D (and the dormant – or is it the doormat? –intelligentsia)
= Conclusion E (Oligarchic authoritarian state). Thank God I don’t have to say it out loud, I am sure I don’t know how to pronounce “oligarchic authoritarianism” – so let’s call it OA (I am entitled to one alphabet soup – my doctor does it all the time).
OoooK. The sum of A thru D = OA. I can live with that, mostly because I don’t have to understand everything I must live with. Mind you, I am not disagreeing with you. Disagreement would require at least two basic elements: 1) That I actually understand the concatenation of facts (and presumed facts) that morphed into analysis yielding OA and 2) That I have an alternate set of facts/analysis/conclusion, in short my own version of OA, to debunk yours. By now you know that ain’t happening. You see, my younger, feistier self would have stomped and hollered demanding you define and fully derive A/B/C or D, demonstrate their interactions, quotients, stable states etc. etc. I’d ask what the (you know what) you did with Points F and G, such as the fractured opposition and the 80M plus stakeholders who apparently are being serenaded into some hazy stupor. I’d be loud and obnoxious, drowning us both in hellish minutia. But we both know stomping and backaches make an unhappy chemistry. So, let’s agree to agree – OA it is.
But right past OA is where your article flat lined for me, straight into Code Blue. Something calamitous and explosive will surely hit OA, your article professed, because – big long pause – Marx said so! Um, no need to wake Karl for this generic paintbrush; my wise old grandma would have given you a far superior and elegant unifying theory to cling to, namely, “Meweled memot new”. The woman would have unified classical and quantum physics had she been to Temrt Bet.
So back to my reason for writing: I’ll go along with OA because I can live with approximations. I just ask that you make some effort beyond repurposing some true but tired and unhelpful edicts in explaining how we move forward to a more democratic Ethiopia. Write and I will happily read, even if the content ends up flying by me, a couple of notches above my brain grade.
You are more incomprehensible than Derese. Besides, try reading something on ‘economic writing’, lol
Dear Daniel and Oda,
I have mentioned in the article why I seem to disagree with the autocracy notion..this whole assumption that the other member parties do NOT have any leverage, ambition and that there is NO internal power dynamics within the EPRDF is so naive ( while studying any organization) and wrong( factually because there INDEED are so many factional groups and interests not just between the leadership of the member parties but WITHIN each of the parties as well.)But I think it is much easier and politically correct to argue otherwise…
D
Dear January
I didnt know Heidegger’s late time travails in the Third Reich…Thanks for flaggin up that his was a brief love affair with the Nazi regime.
Wodaje Solea
What a superb critique of this piece. Indeed this is article is littered with an overly structuralist ( and as Bistima rightfully criticized me -dense!) explanation of the post election political environment,which ignored, put aside the agency of the peasantry, the urban dwellers, the civil service.. Well as James Scott rightfully put it these everyday forms of resistance are usually “Weapons of the Weak” and as he calls them they are flashes on the frying pan- poaching, pilfering, sabotaging, evading, things of those sorts..My issue with the agency centered debate is ..how much of that agency drive aggregates to bring about structural shift? A good example is the Ethiopian revolution which many argue was principally agitated by feudalism. But who brought the land to the tiller issue outfront? peasants or university students? Was the agency of peasants that remarkable in placing the issue at the heart of the urban and national political landscape..Not at all..Agrarian crisis may have precipitated the recolution but it was an URBAN revolution..Then the last straw that broke the camel’s back came when the military grabbed these expedient issue and used is as a platform.But I concede that even to these sort of things, it requires rational, active, and collective agency.
Cant wait to see you at ASA too..Thanks Again
My dear Berhanu Deboch
First off, I miss your articles and book reviews dear brother. I remember the book present as well. Beree..do you want me to lose my job back home? or what? ..you are agitating me to ay something about the Ethiopian Intellectuals! Wellll..thats a big order dear friend..But I cant agree less with Gash Fekade’s dispensation of FIDELAWIYAN… he also has another terminology for those of us who learned about Landlord Gultie and the Ruga the proletariat and passed all our national exams on multiple choice questions..he dubs as YE MATKOR TIWULD!!! (He could develop this thesis in the lines of Paulo Freire!!) I tell you what higher education is in deep crisis in Ethiopia..but i promise to write more about it.
Bistima..apologies if that was too dense. I didnt mean to give you headaches. lol!!But The majority of readers have found it pretty palatable. So I am redeemed.
Hello Derese,
What do you mean “So I am redeemed”?? Not so fast! Darn it, I didn’t just publicly admit to stupidity and old age so that you can apologize for just giving me a headache. No Sir.
One of two things is at play here: 1) I did such a poor job of communicating the point that Abebe is well within reason to call me incomprehensible, or 2) You sir, are artfully dodging the issue. So, let’s try this once more. And we are not going back on OA. OA, stands as is, good, bad, or indifferent.
As I told you, I felt the same letdown reading your article as I did hearing from my doctor. My doctor summoned medical mumbo jumbo to pretty much tell me the obvious – I am a human being and will therefore one day die of one of many causes, possibly a car crash, a heart attack or plain old age etc. You wrote a compelling piece supported by points A thru D to arrive at OA – which, though I don’t pretend to fully comprehend in order to be for or against it with full knowledge, I agreed made sense (in the same manner I agreed with the alphabet soup of a medical diagnosis). Very much like my doctor, you then summoned poor Marx to tell me the obvious – that OA, like any other societal development, has systemic contradictions and hence sows its seeds of destruction. You then concluded your diagnosis by asserting that OA, very much like poor me, will one day die of a possible combination of calamities; namely, extreme economic duress, an elite split on a civil-military fault line, or an opposition perestroika.
My issue, as I said earlier, is if I am to believe in an OA built upon approximation, the least you can do is make concerted effort beyond repurposing Marx in explaining how we move forward to a more democratic Ethiopia.
Now, please write back and redeem yourself for real this time.
Here I come again,,, Isn’t articulating the problem or portraying the real picture of the system one big step ahead?, Deresse or somebody else can go about the solution. You better settle for a query about OA or something within the purpose or intention of the article.
Bistima
I hereby admit that some partsof the text were really dense and may not par with people who are not interested this far in political theories and political science.. yikerta! I think writing concise, simple but thoughtful articles. Dear reader, help me get there by bearing with some of the esoterism here..Will that do by way of a confession?
Hello Derese,
Thank you for responding. Do I detect an undercurrent of polite sarcasm? If so, please allow me to respond in kind and congratulate you (yet once more) for stating the obvious – that I am indeed too thick headed to grasp esoteric political theories.
But enough of this nonsense; I am glad you wrote back and specifically, I am thankful for that one line of helpful dialogue in your response “writing concise, simple, but thoughtful articles”. I want you to write concise, simple and thoughtful articles because it is so painfully important that you keep doing so. If one were to ask me (yes, I know, no one is asking me) how you did this time around in achieving that lofty goal, I would say a C+. And it is no negative reflection on your grasp of esoteric principles, but quite the contrary. All that needs to be said about OA as been said, analyzed, debated over, beaten to pulp, hung out to dry and then soaked in obscure context to appear once more as fresh off the printer. But is it helpful? Do we, the dimwits and the dull, understand why it is relevant? Forget relevant, do we even truly understand the difference between OA and Steamed Cabbage? You must admit there is plenty of cabbage floating out there masquerading as legit analysis – thus the desperate need for you to write concise, simple and thoughtful articles. Now an A+ would wake us thick heads out of our slumber, energize us to the point of wanting to get off the couch and reach for our pocketbooks to contribute if we can or to volunteer if we can’t. I am sure you will agree with me that summoning Marx will only make us roll over and snore. You may argue, but lady, I am not writing for you dimwits! In which case, I have to ask:
Who are you writing for Derese? You don’t have to respond this time. I just ask that you keep writing and when I see that A+, I will know who you are really writing for.
Dear Bistima
Knowing you, your constructive criticisms about my style of writing before this particular piece, and the intelligent conversations I always had with you; you should not have doubted that my apology was sincere!! The fact that people do not use oligarchy and authoritarianism in their every day language does NOT mean they do NOT know about them as well.. In fact I have a great respect for all Ethiopian readers from all walks of life..my best lessons in life were from fieldworks with farmers in in Dollo Addo, Dodota Siree, Horo Gudru, Dur Bete, Tehuledere etc..So dear lady, I did not mean to refer to anyone of my readers as dim wits, thick heads or slumberes.. this simply was not fair. So take my yikerta at face value..I may have to call you and talk to about this personally!
Derese,
You don’t know me and I don’t know you. No kidding, that is the honest truth. Except for the back and forth on this thread, we have never talked or corresponded before. In any case, it is good to know you have mistaken me for someone you obviously respect.
Really?
You obviously sounded someone very familiar ..lol!
I am glad that you have taken my olive branch though.
Selam