Emerging Ethnic Identities and Inter-Ethnic Conflict: The Guji–Burji Conflict in South Ethiopia

By Asebe Regassa Debelo

Volume 12, Issue 3, pages 517-533

Abstract

The politics of ethnicity was formally institutionalised in Ethiopia in 1991 with the introduction of ethnic federalism. This study deals with emerging ethnic identities and the dynamics of the inter-ethnic relationship between the Guji and Burji peoples in south Ethiopia. The article argues that, following the enunciation of ethnicity as a leading political order in 1991, identities have been articulated in such a way that past historical incidents and memories have been reactivated and old labels have been redefined by ethnic entrepreneurs for various motives. This promotes (re)construction of ethnic identities and inter-group polarisation. In the Guji–Burji case, it is this fragile relationship that is easily changed into inter-ethnic conflict as a result of competing interests over resources. The article concludes that while the cause of the current Guji–Burji conflict is primarily economic in nature, it took on an ethnic dimension within the context of politicised ethnic identities that hardened group boundaries. Synchronising past relationships – both conflicting and harmonious – with the contemporary scenario, the article tries to shed some light on the dynamics of the Guji–Burji relationship, focusing particularly on the post-1991 political order in Ethiopia and its local implications.

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Gender and Nationalism in Latin America: Thoughts on Recent Trends

By Sarah A. Radcliffe and Megan Rivers-Moore

Volume 9, Issue 1, pages 139-145

Abstract

Relations between gender and nationalism are forged in the intersection between race, inter-national relations, sexuality, and class in Latin America; the region’s gendered nationalisms reflecting specific histories and configurations of race, gender relations and projects of nationalism. The gendered nature of nations and nationalism in Latin America remains a vibrant research field (for reviews on gender, see Dore and Molyneux 2000; on nationalism, Miller 2006). For this reason, our piece can highlight only a few dimensions of a multifaceted dynamic set of processes, reflecting our research interests rather than a comprehensive review.

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Landscapes of ‘Othering’ in Postwar and Contemporary Germany: The Limits of the ‘Culture of Contrition’ and the Poverty of the Mainstream

By Aristotle Kallis

Volume 12, Issue 2, pages 387-407

Abstract

In the 1930s the National Socialist regime embarked on a chillingly ambitious and fanatical project to ‘remake’ German society and ‘race’ by deploying a peerless – in both kind and intensity – repertoire of ‘othering’ strategies and measures directed at the Jews, the Sinti/Roma, and non-conformist groups within the Third Reich. At the heart of this campaign was the notion of a ‘zero-sum’ confrontation between the nation/race and its perceived ‘enemies’: namely, that the existence of these ‘enemies’ within German society threatened the very foundations of the German ‘race’ and posed the gravest threat to its mere survival. To what extent can the experience of the 1930s aggressive, violent, and eventually murderous ‘zero-sum’ mindset provide crucial insights into contemporary discourses of ‘othering’, linked with the European radical-populist right but increasingly ‘infecting’ the social and political mainstream? The contemporary ‘ethno-pluralist’ framing of the discussion divulges the persistence of a similar ‘zero-sum’ mentality that is nurtured by socio-economic and cultural insecurity, on the one hand, and powerful long-standing prejudices against particular groups, on the other. The article explores this ‘zero-sum’ insecurity mindset in the anti-immigration ‘mainstream’ discourses in the Federal Republic of Germany, both before and after re-unification. It demonstrates how – in contrast to the postwar ‘culture of contrition’ with regard to the memory of the Holocaust – this mindset continues to be a powerful political and psychological refuge for societal insecurities that has an enduring appeal to significant audiences well beyond the narrow political constituencies of the radical right.

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The Syrian Uprising: Imagining and Performing the Nation

By Salwa Ismail

Volume 11, Issue 3, pages 538-549

Introduction

The uprisings that are sweeping through the Arab world have brought to the fore challenges that emerge in processes of political-community-making. Integral to these challenges are questions of political peoplehood, which interrogate the narratives and histories of the nation. In the Syrian case, these questions point to the constraints on collective action and feelings of trepidation towards the political changes that could occur once the existing regime falls. In this essay, I discuss the ‘fear of sectarianism’ as a factor shaping how the protest movement is constituted, as well as the modes of action pursued by participants and leaders of the Syrian uprising. This factor, I argue, has played an important role in crystallising a certain version of the political community while, at the same time, informing a re-imagining of the nation.

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Understanding the (Re)Definition of Nationhood in French Cities: A Case of Multiple States and Multiple Republics

By Joseph Downing

Volume 15, Issue 2, pages 336-351

Abstract

Both theoretical and empirical accounts of the nation have neglected the city as an arena for the (re)definition of national belonging. This article analyses contemporary France to advance theoretical and empirical insights into this process. Rather than presenting France as characterized by a Republican, assimilationist position, this article argues France is better characterized by competing ‘multiple republics’ with numerous definitions of nationhood. This article identifies three mechanisms of the multiple Republic. In Marseille, the municipal administration acts to redefine the secular character of the nation by bringing religion directly into local politics. This use of religion to redefine nationhood is also present in Lyon, with the key difference that it occurs in symbiosis with European governance. Finally, the Nanterre suburb of Paris demonstrates that the local state also uses notions of ethnicity to redefine the French nation as compatible with ethnic difference.

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