The Fourth Congress of the Association of African historians was held in Addis Ababa in May 2007. These 21 papers are a key selection of the papers presented there, with an introduction by the distinguished historian Bahru Zewde. Given the contemporary salience and the historical depth of the issue of identity, the congress was devoted to that global phenomenon within Africa. The papers explore and analyse the issue of identity in its diverse temporal settings, from its pre-colonial roots to its cotemporary manifestations. The papers are divided into six parts: Pre-Colonial Identities; Colonialism and Identity; Conceptions of the Nation-State and Identity; Identity-Based Conflicts; Migration and Acculturation; and Memory, History and Identity. The authors are scholars from Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Bahru Zewde is Emeritus Professor of History at Addis Ababa University, Executive Director of the Forum for Social Studies, and Vice-President of the Association of African Historians. He was formerly Chairperson of the Department of History and Director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa University. Amongst his publication is A History of Modern Ethiopia 1855-1991.

Society, State and Identity in African History

Administrative Law

Forum for Social Studies

The last two decades have seen dramatic changes in Ethiopian higher education. System diversification, enrollment explosion, expansion in physical infrastructure, curricular overhaul and establishment of new types of institution - these are the areas of the most significant development in the sector. Nevertheless, it is the sharp decline in the quality of higher education that has been the subject of most concern for the academic community. Yet, very little public debate or research was conducted on this thorny issue, until the Forum for Social Studies (FSS), an independent think-tank in Ethiopia, took the initiative to organize a series of public discussion forums based on the outcome of its own studies on the subject. This bilingual volume (Amharic and English) presents six of the essays which are the results of the FSS initiative. They examine different aspects of quality such as pre-university academic competence of students, higher education quality assurance and accreditation system, curricular relevance, pedagogical training and workload of academic staff, and quality indicators of science education.

Quality of Higher Education in Ethiopian Public Institutions (Amharic Edition)

Education & Teaching

Higher & Continuing Education

The place of intellectuals (in the broad sense of the educated elite) in society has varied in place and time. The higher the level of industrial development, the less influence they seem to exercise. Thus, while intellectuals may be sought as advisors and members of think tanks in the so-called First World, they are rarely seen exercising direct state power. The situation is different in the so called Third World, notably Africa. The educated elite has historically seemed destined - by social ascription or self-arrogation - to play a central role in the exercise of state power. In Africa alone, the first generation of post-independence rulers - Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Léopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania - provides us with ample evidence to appreciate this reality. In Ethiopia, too, intellectuals have played a role and exercised an influence disproportionate to their size. This can be divided broadly into two phases, with the Italian Occupation (1936-1941) forming an important watershed between them.The pre-war intellectuals were preoccupied with a whole gamut of concerns ranging from educational development to fiscal reform. They had an essentially reformist agenda.The Fascist Italian invasion and the subsequent occupation not only terminated their careers but also - through its merciless policy of liquidation of the educated elite - created a gap in intellectual activity in the immediate post - Liberation years. The second period of intellectual intervention could thus begin only in the late 1950s. It revolved mainly around Ethiopian students (mostly at the tertiary level at the initial stage), both at home and abroad. This eventually evolved into what came to be known as the Ethiopian Student Movement. The movement could be said to have gone through three successive stages: self-awareness, reformism, revolutionary commitment. There is general agreement that the year 1965, when students came out onto the streets with the slogan of "Land to the Tiller", marked the beginning of the third stage. It is this third stage that is the focal point of this study. For it constitutes the crucial period that forms both the backdrop and the essence of the changes that have come to affect fundamentally the Ethiopian state and society - changes that are yet far from over.

Documenting the Ethiopian Student Movement. An Exercise in Oral History

History

Africa

Araqe is a traditional home-distilled beverage that is made from an assortment of cereals such as wheat, sorghum and maize, and has a high level of ethanol. A ubiquitous feature of present day Ethiopian society, with the exception of the predominantly Muslim communities, Araqe is more than the alcoholic drink of choice for people living in rural and small towns. Thanks to its qualities of divisibility, long shelf-life, portability, and high unit value, it is also an important commodity that is produced by, traded between, and consumed in most rural and urban areas of the country. Its negative effects notwithstanding, it is a major object of exchange that ties cities to their rural hinterlands and with one another, thus becoming an important component of the social fabric of the society. It is an important social fact that cannot be dismissed as a fringe phenomenon. But in spite of the substantial amount of araqe that is distilled, traded, and consumed within the informal sector, and the important place it holds in the socioeconomic fabric of the society, no comprehensive study has to date been undertaken on its interrelated aspects at a national level. The general objective of this study is to assess and document the processes (origin, introduction and spread), patterns (arenas, manners), trends (currently evolving forms and future directions), as well as impacts (on environment, economy, social, health and security) of the production, marketing, and consumption of the homemade liquor, araqe, with the ultimate aim of indicating how and to what extent these factors contribute to economic development/stagnation and social cohesion/disruption in rural Ethiopia in particular as well as the country at large.

The Araqe Dilemma. The Socioeconomics of Traditional Distilled Alcohol Production, Marketing, and Consumption in Ethiopia

Politics & Social Sciences

Admassie, Yeraswork

Amdework, Ezana

Social Sciences

The overall objective of the study is aimed at generating a baseline data for monitoring the overall impact of development interventions in general and the irrigation schemes of the Tana sub-basin in particular regarding local livelihoods, food security and poverty alleviation in rural areas and local employment and income, assets and access to services in urban areas.

Socio-Economic Base-Line Survey of Rural and Urban Households in Tana Sub-Basin, Amhara National Regional State

Gebre-Egziabher, Tegegne

Berhanu, Kassahun

Ethiopian Labour Migration to the Gulf and South Africa

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