International Relations

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Browsing International Relations by Author "Aklog, Tadessse"

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    Multiculturalism in Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia: Practices and Challenges
    (Addis Ababa University, 2020-11) Aklog, Tadessse; Adebo, Tarekeg (PhD)
    After the collapse of the military government by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in May 1991, Ethiopia has entered into a kind of multinational federalization process. Following the enactment of the Federal Democratic Republic Constitution of Ethiopia in 1995, Two City Administrations and Nine regional states, as members of the Federation, were established. The Amhara National Regional state (ANRS) is one of the members of the federation which is multiethnic in its composition. The Regional state adopted ethnic-based decentralization to most of minority ethnic groups from within. That policy scheme could demonstrate an interesting case of multiculturalism from below. Multiculturalism connotes myriad of measures consisting of normative and institutional mechanisms of accommodating diversity. However, the multicultural practices in the region both at region-wide and sub-regional level have not yet been explored by researchers. And hence, this study was intended to examine the narratives, the institutional mechanisms of the accommodation of ethnic diversity, and the orientations of majority and minority groups towards the ideology of multiculturalism in the study area. In this study, it was assumed that the practices of ethnic- based decentralization in the ANRS have been shaped by communitarian cum Stalinist-Leninist version of multiculturalism that dichotomize the difference between the majority and minority groups in a society. In line with this, the researcher argues that the institutionalization of multilevel ethnic federalization process would create inter-group competitions and comparisons which, in turn, may disrupt the fabric of local diversity, crystallizes inter- group attitudinal difference, and induces discriminatory practices in the study area. The data for the study were obtained from a survey of 581 participants drawn following a multi-stage sampling procedure, focus groups discussions and key informants. Methodologically, this study has been oriented by the pragmatist or realist research foundation whereby both qualitative and quantitative approaches and research strategies were employed. To achieve the objectives of the study, different methods of data analysis were employed. While thematic analysis was employed for qualitative data; An Independent Sample Test (IST) and descriptive statistics were employed as instrument of data analysis for those quantifiable data. The result from the analysis of qualitative data showed that there were normative and different institutional mechanisms of accommodation of ethnic diversity both at region-wide and sub-regional levels of government. The regional Council, the Media and the political party represented important sites of region –wide public spheres which were sensitive to ethnic diversity. Furthermore, titular autonomy and mother tongue education remained the twin policy pillars of accommodation of ethnic diversity at sub-regional level. The result from an independent sample test yielded P- value of 0.004, at 95 % confidence level, which was below 0.05 confirming the hypothesis of the study that there existed significant difference between the majority and minority groups. And hence, it is suggested that inclusive narratives in tandem with measures that reduce the incentive structures and opportunities for segregative practices are more likely to improve such attitudinal gap between the majority and minority groups in the study area.