Teachers, Teachers, Teachers
EPRDF’s near complete media monopoly and its restrictive social policies have now given the party an epistemic monopoly. If as my colleague says teachers are so crucial in breaking that, the toolbox of pro-democracy activists ought to have instruments of attracting teachers to the fold. I know this is easier said than done. Ethiopian schools at all levels are heavily infiltrated by government operatives. But one fact ought to make activists upbeat: Most of these same operatives are teachers who have joined EPRDF because it is the only available institution through which they can pursue their interest, which in Ethiopia means livelihood.
One of my colleagues studies authoritarianism and epistemic hegemony. The latter is the epistemic power exerted by a dominant group over others. In authoritarian states, epistemic hegemony is achieved with a combination of information control and the provision of ideology as a way of interpreting information and understanding the world. Although it is cloaked in an academic parlance, this is not new for most people who have lived under authoritarian rule. What is fascinating in my colleague’s research is his analysis of the special role some social groups have in contesting this hegemony. In eight countries, which had serious constraints on the media, successfully formulated strong ideologies and built nationalist credibility, he finds that one particular social group played enormous role in either acting as a counterforce to the dominant epistemic position or inculcating the position – teachers.
I participated in one of his presentations where he said that in a literature about social revolutions (like this seminal work by Misagh Parsa), the role of teachers in sparking revolutionary change is understated because they, as a group, are not mostly at the forefront of political action. Misagh suggests that the key social group in revolutions is students. My colleague argues that “the ground work for the epistemic liberation of students” is done by teachers. In Ethiopia’s case, his observation is consistent with the finding of Rene Lefort that the rural elites – with teachers as a core unit – were responsible for the opposition’s breakthrough in rural areas in the 2005 elections. It is also in line with my own observation that one of the prominent target groups of EPRDF’s cooption is teachers in rural areas.
EPRDF’s near complete media monopoly and its restrictive social policies have now given the party an epistemic monopoly. If as my colleague says teachers are so crucial in breaking that, the toolbox of pro-democracy activists ought to have instruments of attracting teachers to the fold. I know this is easier said than done. Ethiopian schools at all levels are heavily infiltrated by government operatives. But one fact should make activists upbeat: Most of these same operatives are teachers who have joined EPRDF because it is the only available institution through which they can pursue their interest, which in Ethiopia means livelihood.
Said well. How do you suppose the opposition attract teachers? By proposing policy that teachers like? EPRP style clandestine teachers’ network?
Well that is a good thought.well TPLF/EPRDF’s epistemic hegemony and monopoly also created an epistemic community meaning “if a group with a common perspective is able to acquire and sustain control over a substantive policy domain, the associated regime will become stronger and countries will comply with it” this boils down to local communities ,kebeles and schools.
Teachers are part of the epistemic community and contributers to it too.The only way to break this TPLF/EPRDF artifacted community is via an extensive grassroots work. That needs enormous money,effort, knowledge and dedicated persons.
Let me give you an example of my anecdote about your ”attracting teachers to the fold” suggestion.
Around 2005/6 I was doing a postgrad course and in one lecture day on Ethiopian economics ; the lecturer was highly referring Dr.Berhanu Nega and his works and so on. One of the students (a cadre student) rose his hand told him to stop idolizing Berhanu and focus on the numbers-the young lecturer and the rest of us kept quiet but murmuring.
This is the situation of Ethiopian teachers from primary to tertiary level today.
P.p. your advice shouldn’t be public.
The real problem is action and not ideas.
The situation in Ethiopia now is historically unprecedented. There is literally no ground to move on..be aier lai meches atenkesakesem.
How do we create a momentum for action in addis?
People are too scared, and the people (urban educated middle class) who have the capacity for major political action are too comfortable (i.e. life is not bad enough for them to make any sacrifices).
Who dares to hold a public speech?
Who dares to distribute leaflets?
Who dares to publish a newspaper article?
Who dares to congregate?
Who dares to publickly acknowledge being in opposition?
And by doing this things lose your job and face persecution. Not many, certainly not me.
Sarah I agree with you that everybody is saying ‘certainly not me’ though this seems to defy all logic. If we don’t have anything to lose why do we agree to live under captivation? Or do we have something to lose? Not sure at all.
Abiy. Thanks for an interesting insight into an apparently overlooked but extremely important topic. Sometimes a little bit of radical ideas may come handy. In this case I am reminded of Lenin’s assertion that the middle class is not a force for change or revolution simply because it is a class that has something to lose. Now before anybody accuses me of being a remnant of the 60s (either EPRP or Meison) I want to state that I was too young to be part of that. So my interest in such ideas is purely due to their practical value. If we agree that the middle class is not an ideal group to mobilize for change the next question would be whether teachers in the Ethiopian context qualify for this label of middle class. My simple answer would have been NO. In fact it may be argued that Ethiopia has a very small, if any, middle class. This means that we have a very small but very rich upper class and the rest is essentially the lower class. Now if this crude dialectical analysis is anything to go by teachers will be an obvious choice for propagating and promoting change and possibly revolution. However that does not seem to be the case. Why? Sorry but there appear to be many questions but few answers.
Maybe timing is not right (now)?
Maybe the moment will come in the future when meles (hopefully) steps down, and the eprdf machienry’s grip on society is weakned?
Timing is essential for all great changes. Point being, even if the time might not be right today (as circumstances are quite difficult), we shouldnt despair and put politics and our rights on the shelf, as the future will bring new circumstances a nd new opporunities to ACT!
Abiye, are you calling those men behind the black board, especially genet zewde’s crippled generation, teachers? Sorry to say this, but most of these so called ‘teachers’ were engineered to be cadres or cooptee’s. The title “Teacher” should be earned. They can’t shoulder any nobel cause. They can become part of the grassroot. They need role models themselves. They need to be worked out inside out.
Selam,
You got a point.The honor and previlege of being a teacher came to an end with the commencement of revolutionary democracy.The generation of combatants is moulded to serve not to fight for human-right and pro-democracy activism.The real teachers are not found in schools but at home,parents and family,where real freedom of expression exist.The concept of Grassroot activism is the essence.
Dear Abiye
Thank you for this insightful blog.I for one think that the role of Teachers in building epistemic hegemony can not be overstated in our case for two more other reasons.The first one is in Ethiopia teachers are everywhere, every where in the nook and carnies of the wildest rural areas.At times you may find Teachers even in a place where you do not find DA’S.Apart from their numbers across the nation this social group is also identified invariably as one engulfed in a quagmire of desperation as a result of the lowly pays and the down looking attitude of the public at large to the profession of teaching.Desperate as they with their life as a teacher most are more than ready to catch the train of EPRDFites.Put simply it would not be an exaggeration if one labels this group as one of the most vulnerable social groups for Co-option strategies of the ruling party. In a similar vein EPRDFites as they are unmistakeably avowed worshipers of “organization” noting is luring than this social group.And the result is a massive influx of Teachers to the ruling party’s camp.Second to this I am also of the opinion that Sara Vaughn’s explanation of the matter is the most scholarly and robust understanding of the unholy alliance of the two.With the risk of oversimplification the gist of Sara Vaughn’s argument can be described as one that tries to theorize the affection of EPRDF to teachers based on the class understanding of the front. Sara argues that the affection is not casual rather it is largely informed by Marxist’s understanding of the front on the class standing of the social group.Dear Abiye IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU REFLECT ON THE ABOVE MATTERS…please do
Easier said than done……
EPRDF is doing all it can to control information flow in the country. It controls all major state media; it bans independent press; it blocks websites that are critical of the government; it jams radio programs like VOA Amharic. I have no doubt teachers can play a crucial role in indoctrinating ideas or instigating civil disobedience. EPRDFies know this very well. Their crackdown on the Ethiopian Teachers Association and imprisonment of its leader Dr. Taye Wolde Semayat is one good example. The expulsion of some 40 professors following the uprising the AAU student is another.
I think what EPRDF is overlooking with this massive drive for membership is members who join for the benefit gained from EPRDF membership dilute the organization. In fact in the long term this kind of members weaken the organization more than strengthen it. I was told that right after the formation of the derge’s party people paid top dollars to recruiters to join the party. The reason was party members had access to goods and services that were not available to the general public. These party members sold the goods they bought at cheap price using their party card in the black market for hefty profits. As the membership grew the benefit diluted because the party did not have resources to give the same kind of benefit for a larger membership. Further more opportunists move faster in any organization than principled members filling the upper echelon of the leadership with people who only care about their interest only and pay lip service to the stated goal of the party. This has been seen in the history of other organizations too.
If current trends continue EPRDF will eventually reach to a place where the derge’s party ended up. The success of TPLF whether one agrees with their goal or not was their principled stand in issues they believed in and a hard working dedicated leadership focused on the goal of the organization. Now that is gone instaed EPRDF is promoting people like Redwan Hussien and Hailemariam Desalegn.
I was once talking about this issue to an EPRDF cadre and his response was we are not the derge. May be but in the larger sense they are acting ike the derge.
Dear Abiye,
It seems to me that the perceived ‘epistemic hegimony’ of EPRDF is skin deep. Its hegemony is instead a function of its blatant disregard to epistemic standards by not lending itself to the authority of reason and a commitment to the truth. In the language of Harry Frankfurt, it is an attempt to bullshit one’s way through.
I think its in the interest of EPRDF to inspire cynicism on the part of the forces of change with regard to taking epistemic authority reriously. People loose hope in the power of any conception of truth in transforming society. The saddest truth is, so far, EPRDF succeeds in depriving the only available antidote against its malase.
If it is plausible to call the very commitment to undermine epistemic authority as an instance of epistemic hegemoony, then EPRDF is a notorious exemplar.