The Rise of Amhara Nationalism: Identity Construction, Ethnic-based Federal Order, and Societal Security in Ethiopia
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Date
2024-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The second half of the 20th century has witnessed the proliferation of ethnic nationalist
movements in Ethiopia demanding more autonomy, secession, and so forth. At the heart of these
competing nationalism lies the question of nationalities and the Amhara domination discourse.
After years of struggle, the ethnic nationalist organizations established an ethnic-based
federalism in post-1991 Ethiopia as a panacea to the question of nationalists. The institutional
and political measures implemented after 1991, however, incited growing discontent among the
Amhara, resulting in the 2016 outbreak of Amhara resistance and nationalistic sentiment. The
purpose of this dissertation, therefore, is to explore the origins and development of Amhara
nationalism in Ethiopia, 1991–2020. Through an examination of historical, political, and
sociocultural factors, this study seeks to shed light on identity construction, dominant discourses
and counter-discourses, questions and mobilization of Amhara nationalism.
To address the objectives of the research, a qualitative case study is adopted. A constructivist
philosophical worldview has informed the overarching research design. In doing so, the
research draws on a range of primary and secondary sources. Data have been generated
through focus group discussions, participant observation, and interviews with purposively
selected informants from different political, social, and economic backgrounds. Furthermore,
data have been extracted from archival materials such as journals, newspapers, political
programs of different political parties, scholarly works on ethnic nationalism in Ethiopia, etc.
Additionally, discursive formation, hegemony, and societal security theory have all served as
theoretical foundations for the data analysis. In doing so, the major findings of the dissertation
are as follows:
The study indicated that Amhara ethno-national identity has been constructed from outside for
the greater part of the last century and contested from within. However, recently, Amharaness
has been embraced among the nationalists through re-imagining historical, heroic, material,
and spiritual symbols. With all of the internal provincial divisions, the last decade has
demonstrated the momentum of the discursive construction of Amharaness as a result of the
dominant discourse that construes Amhara as "oppressor", "chauvinist", "settler", "neftegna",
etc. The victimhood narrative espoused by Amhara nationalists throughout the years of ethnicbased
federalism, especially the question over "ancestral territories", the establishment of
Amhara-based political parties, a surge in publications on Amhara identity and resistance, the
formation of civic societies, print and press media, the resistance movement that sparked in
Gondar, etc., have contributed to the cultivation of collective identification among the Amhara.
The study also illustrated that the rise of Amhara nationalism is both a resistance movement and
an assertion of the place of Amhara in Ethiopia politics. It is a resistance or counter-movement
to the hegemonic anti-Amhara discourse, which was introduced during the short years of the
Italian colonial occupation, transformed in the years of the ESM, and institutionalized under
TPLF/EPRDF rule. Amhara nationalism adopted a counter-discourse strategy aimed at
deconstructing the dominant narratives and reclaiming them by systematically providing a
suitable connotation. In terms of asserting the Amhara question, initially AAPO and later NaMA
and other Amhara-based organizations strongly argued for the "Welkait question", or return of
ancestral Amhara territories; amending the FDRE Constitution; altering the dominant
ahistorical anti-Amhara narrative; ensuring the societal security of the Amhara to live and work
in different parts of the country, etc. However, Amhara nationalism has been marred by various
events that have checked its progression, such as the June 22, 2019 incident and strong
provincial sentiment within the two major political parties, i.e., NaMA and ADP. What is more,
the linkages between continuous ethnic-based profiling and assaults against the Amhara since
the early 1990s were a major factor in mobilizing the Amhara mass to organize under the
umbrella of a nationalist movement to ensure protection from future attacks. Lack of action from
the ruling TPLF/EPRDF to stop the continuous attacks has fueled the Amhara nationalists'
efforts to rally the masses into the movement. Political parties such as NaMA have, as a result,
declared in their political programs that the Amhara are facing a survival threat in Ethiopia.
In conclusion, Amharaness and Amhara nationalism are the products of assemblages of
grievances emanating from a sense of marginalization in Ethiopian body politics, the ahistorical
institution of the anti-Amhara narrative, and the repercussions that followed the ethnic-based
federalism in post-1991 Ethiopia. With unabated identity-based attacks against the Amhara and
unresolved questions, it is evident that Amhara nationalism will continue to play a significant
role in shaping the political dispensation of the country. As such, further research is needed to
better explain the dynamics of Amhara nationalism vis-a-vis the northern war that broke out in
2020. An ethnographic and political economy approach will also help to shed light on the
cultural dimensions and economic elements that fueled the development of Amhara nationalism.