Browsing by Author "Hailegiorgis, Habtamu"

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    Ethnic Identity as Social Capital for Community Development: the Case of the Wolaytta Community of Ethiopia since the Year 2000
    (Addis Ababa University, 2014-07) Hailegiorgis, Habtamu; Tafesse, Moges (PhD)
    It is a common proposition that social capital unquestionably results in progressive community development. Such a proposition or social capital theory in general suggests about the existence of social capital in any kind of community in general, be it of political, religious, ethnic, geographic, and so on. However, more specifically, the ethnic social capital perspective obtained from the study among the Wolaytta would propose that social capital interweaved in ethnic identity is a stronger one in maintaining the ethnic unity as well as in promoting community development, particularly for such specific community. The study among the Wolaytta of southwest Ethiopia, through qualitative data collection of interviews, focus group discussions and observations with various community members shows that there are several elements of social capital, especially bonding social capital, which have direct contribution to community development, despite the discovery of some of them which can also hamper desired development. The findings were analyzed through grounded theory method. Since Ethiopia is home for several ethnic communities, their socio cultural resources with strong implication for community development can be utilized. The finding of social capital from this community can fit to the contexts of other ethnic communities in Ethiopia