Journal of Developing Societies recent issues

Introduction to 'The Ethiopian Millennium': A New Millennium: A Renaissance or a New Beginning for Ethiopia?

Zegeye, A., Tegegn, M., Toggia, P. S. — 2008-07-07

The State of Emergency: Police and Carceral Regimes in Modern Ethiopia

Toggia, P. S. — 2008-07-07

This article examines how Ethiopian governments have periodically declared a state of emergency in the country; these effectively turned out to be police and carceral regimes during periods of political crisis. Each of the three Ethiopian governments claimed legitimacy for their respective body politic as a derivation of the ‘consent’ or the ‘general will’ of the Ethiopian people in the last hundred years; Haile-Selassie as the rightful successor tracing the legendary Solomonic Dynasty for his modern Christian autocracy; Mengistu as the head of a socialist state with the will of the working people; and Meles as the head of the federal democratic state with the will of nations/nationalities. Nonetheless, the mode in which they exercised their powers or the mechanism of power they applied in order to normalize their respective body politic is indistinguishable. Furthermore, this contrived idea of the ‘general will’ and its empirical derivative, that is ‘public order’ has become the ‘norm’ in modern Ethiopian politics. These governments have also utilized similar institutional and legal mechanisms that remained intact, such as the police, the criminal law, the prison and the army, as variegated power of normalization despite radical regime changes in September 1974 and May 1991.

Problems of Feminist Leadership among Educated Women in Ethiopia: Taking Stock in the Third Millennium

Biseswar, I. — 2008-07-07

Feminist leadership is a matter of grave concern in Ethiopia where educated women appear to be obliged to fight individual battles to sustain their own agendas on the emancipation of women. Being manipulated by the government-led ‘woman question’ rhetoric, many fail to come to terms with charting such an independent discourse. What is holding them back? Could it be their ideological make-up that is influenced by state and religious indoctrination? Or perhaps their own shortcomings where many fail to comprehend what feminist leadership is all about? Educated women need to have a renewed vision on women's emancipation and to take meaningful decisions on what form of leadership would best advance such concerns. In this twenty-first century it is indeed high time to shed the apolitical and deradicalized stance on the emancipation of women; they should take an independent lead and call for comprehensive and transformative forms of gender equality.

The Civilian Left and the Radicalization of the Dergue

Kebede, M. — 2008-07-07

This article attempts to explain the radicalization of the military committee in Ethiopia known as the Dergue. The committee brought down the monarchy and initiated far-reaching socialist transformations of the country. Yet the Dergue had not initially shown any propensity to radicalism. To explain this conversion to Marxist–Leninist ideology, scholars have thus far provided three prevailing views: (i) the Dergue radicalized to steal the revolution from the civilian left; (ii) objective conditions caused its radicalization; and (iii) radical officers initiated the radicalization. The article critically evaluates these views and shows their serious short-comings. It suggests a new explanation involving the quest for legitimacy and the need for political survival.

The Red Terror in Ethiopia: A Historical Aberration

Tareke, G. — 2008-07-07

This article was inspired by Arno Mayer's magisterial work on the French and Russian revolutions. It is Mayer's thesis that two social forces with irreconcilable political views and objectives fought to the finish in both revolutions. Violence and terror were inevitable. In Ethiopia, the deadly conflict that metamorphosed into the Red Terror was not between conservative and radical forces, but between two modern political organizations which shared the same ideology and strategic goals – but used different tactics. Terror, the article argues, was avoidable. The intent is not to test the validity of Mayer's theory, but to show the peculiarity of the Ethiopian experience.

The Politics of Contemporary Language Policy in Ethiopia

Smith, L. — 2008-07-07

Language is political in Ethiopia because it has both structured and symbolized the nation-building project, and because, in the context of limited resources, any language policy change would require a significant realignment of resources. In modern Ethiopia, the historical distribution of the political goods of communication, recognition and autonomy has been highly skewed, benefiting native Amharic-speakers disproportionately. Since the early 1990s, the decentralization of language choice under the federal constitution has led to the use of other languages by members of select ethno-linguistic communities. This study considers the politics of language choice, drawing from the rich literature in political theory which addresses the role of language in the identity politics of multiethnic and multilingual societies. The historical trajectory of language politics in Ethiopia is presented, but the focus is on evidence gathered in parts of Ethiopia in 2001 and 2003. These findings indicate the relationship between language identities, citizenship formation and identification in the country. They are based on structured interviews and participant observation in select regions of the country.

The Post-war Border Dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea: On the Brink of Another War?

Zegeye, A., Tegegn, M. — 2008-07-07

The claims and counter-claims over the troubled border between Ethiopia and Eritrea, at the root of the crisis between the two governments, were by no means resolved by the war of 1998–2000. Indeed, when the jointly-formed post-war commission delivered its ruling on the boundaries, its terms were rejected out of hand by Ethiopia. Eritrean border claims rest largely upon the maps drawn up by Italy in 1934, while Ethiopia's claims largely rests on the treaty that Emperor Menelik entered with the Italians in 1908. And this is only to touch upon the ramifications of the tangled dispute. This article provides a critical observation of the claims made by the two governments; it assesses the validity of these claims, explores their strengths and points out their weaknesses. It also shows why the impasse continues to fester, pushing the crisis dangerously close to renewed war, and offers some tentative suggestions on how a lasting solution to the Ethio-Eritrean crisis might be found.

Power Politics: Kinijit in the 2005 Elections

Tegegn, M. — 2008-07-07

This article looks at the role of the main opposition party in Ethiopia, Kinijit, during the parliamentary elections of 2005. It shows that the election was unique in that it galvanized the people of Ethiopia to come out and vote en masse. Kinijit was mainly instrumental in mobilizing the people and provided hope for a political change towards democracy. They saw in Kinijit the capacity to lead the country as opposed to the ruling party, trusted it fully and were determined to follow its leadership. The voter turn-out was the highest in the history of the country. Kinijit won the elections but the ruling party rigged the results and declared itself the winner. Controversy arose and dragged on for months. Kinijit then resorted to a protest movement in the form of civil disobedience. The government took this as ‘unconstitutional and as preparation for armed rebellion’ and began a clamp-down. The entire leadership of Kinijit was imprisoned, and some 400 people were massacred as they demonstrated. Close to 17,000 others were thrown in jail and labor camps. This article examines the flaws in Kinijit's decision to resort to civil disobedience, looks at the consequences of the election for the process of democratization and at what that means in the fight against poverty and under-development. It singles out Kinijit's structural problems, such as insufficient institutional preparedness and lack of organizational structure in 2005, and suggests the strategic political course it should have taken.

Introduction: In the Light of Andre Gunder Frank

Lauderdale, P., Harris, R. — 2008-03-13

On Being 'Frank' about Terrorism

Oliverio, A. — 2008-03-13

Andre Gunder Frank's work on the global economy, social movements and his own experiences reflect critical issues related to the state and terror. He understood all too well the insidious, yet symbiotic relationship between the state and terror. Frank views politics and terror as a manipulation, a corrupt act of states, powerful elites, groups and organizations that have the resources to enforce their version of political and social reality. Similar to former US President Eisenhower, Frank bemoaned the power of the military post-industrial complex for its organized and systematic capability to legitimize and institutionalize terrorism. Frank was sensitive to how certain acts by states, typically referred to as counter-terrorism, enable them to shape the political agenda not only within countries but also in international affairs. Perhaps a more fruitful path of action, as implied by Frank's research and by the ‘blowback’ consequences of the state of terror, is to work on changing the social, economic and political conditions that give rise to the use of terror as a strategy by states or challenge groups.

Historical Social Movements, Ecological Crisis and 'Other' World Views

Chew, S. C. — 2008-03-13

Andre Gunder Frank and Marta Fuentes have suggested that social movements of protest tend to cluster during periods of economic downturns. With this in mind, can we examine world history over the long-term to enable us to provide a more insightful understanding of the transformative potential of social movements during times of socioeconomic, ecological and political disruptions as Frank and Fuentes suggested over a decade ago? This article examines the rise of two social movements that have emerged during different periods of world history when the world system was/is in crisis: Christian monasticism and Bioregionalism. Besides viewing Christian monasticism as a religious movement that arose in reaction to the turbulent conditions towards the end of the Roman Empire, I want to argue that Christian monasticism can also be conceived as a social institution formed in reaction to the excessive consumption, economic exploitation and ecological crisis that occurred prior to and during the Dark Ages of Antiquity. Almost 1,700 years later, our current era of socioeconomic, political and ecological crises has also sparked movements expounding alternative world-views and lifestyle options. One such anti-systemic movement is Bioregionalism which is a direct contrast to our contemporary world-view that underscores the themes of globalization, technologization of life and hyper consumption. Therefore, along a similar vein to early Christian monasticism's reaction to institutionalized religion then, Bioregionalism as a life-practice also plays a similar role in the contemporary crisis era. Both of these social movements can be considered as part of the family of social movements that have occurred in world history that Frank and Fuentes (1989, 1990) have written about in the late 20th century.

World System History, The Papacy, and the Transition from Transitions

Denemark, R. A. — 2008-03-13

In a very controversial argument, Andre Gunder Frank suggested that scholars abandon ideas like ‘transitions’ and ‘modes of production’ in favor of more accurate, less Eurocentric concepts. This work reviews three relevant debates on the use of these concepts. The class backgrounds of 64 popes from 1300 to 1900 are then analyzed to see if leaders of a powerful, non-hereditary office altered over that time. The analysis offers no support regarding the role of transitions or modes of production in helping to understand elite recruitment. This finding supports Frank's suggestion that we consider alternative conceptual foundations for understanding development.

Homo Sapiens and the Longue Duree

Nader, L. — 2008-03-13

This essay connects anthropology with the spirit and substance of André Gunder Frank's world history project, emphasizing the need to integrate efforts to understand global colonization by homo sapiens with the expansion of powerful complex societies, sometimes called empires. It also pursues Frank's ‘hegemonic truncation in the world system’ by comparing structural similarities of the Mongols and the Europeans. Backwards history, as Frank and others call it, moves from the present to the past as a method for understanding continuing Euro-American expansions.

The Middle East, Russia and Latin America Facing the Rise of China: Editorial Preface

Jilberto, A. E. F., Hogenboom, B. — 2007-11-27

The Impact of China on the Middle East

Abdel-Khalek, G., Korayem, K. — 2007-11-27

This article assesses the impact of the fast economic growth and expansion of China on the Middle East. It examines the evolution of the profile of the Middle East during 1995–2004 in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, energy resources and potential, commodity structure of the foreign trade of the Middle East, its main trade partners and China's role in the international trade of the region. The importance of the Middle East for China's economy from 1995 to 2004 is discussed, including trade in goods and services, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and supplies of energy and raw materials. Trade competition and/or collaboration between the Middle East and China, especially since the accession of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO), are also considered. Finally, China's impact on the Middle East is analysed by looking into trade, capital flows, labour flows, energy and raw materials and competition in the domestic and international markets with respect to goods and services. Indirect effects of China as a global player on the Middle East may also play a role, mainly through the big player in the Middle East: the United States.

China's Hunger for Oil: The Russian Connection

Mommen, A. — 2007-11-27

China's raidly growing demand for hydrocarbons and its wish to diminish its dependency on imports from the Middle East have stimulated cooperation between China and Russia. Since the 1990s China is looking for a new strategic relationship with Russia for its oil and natural gas provision from Siberia. This article provides an overview of the changes in China's energy sector, including oil, coal, natural gas and electric power, and considers the development of the Russian hydrocarbon industry. It then analyses the main areas of energy negotiations in which Russia and China are involved: oil and gas pipelines in Siberia, hydrocarbons from Sakhalin and oil from Kazakhstan. While these negotiations have been troublesome, recently Russia and China have informally developed a strategic partnership and bilateral relations are now at their best in history.

Latin America and China Under Global Neoliberalism

Jilberto, A. E. F., Hogenboom, B. — 2007-11-27

While China and Latin America simultaneously implemented neoliberal policies as part of a profound economic restructuring process, there are important differences in the results of their policies and economic performance. This article discusses the different development paths of Latin America and China, including their starting points, economic policies and political processes. China's expansion and Latin America's liberalization have brought the two in much closer contact. Several Latin American countries are now important providers of commodities (for example, minerals, energy and soy) that China needs to keep up with the rising levels of production and consumption. As a result China is also starting to invest in these products. Some other Latin American countries have lost rather than gained from the rise of China, especially the countries that sought economic integration in the world market through the growth of maquiladoras (assembly factories for export to the United States). However, their attempts to slow down China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) did not succeed.The article discusses the causes, effects and prospects of these different experiences with China's global expansion.

Developing Regions, Africa and Indonesia Facing the Rise of China

Jilberto, A. E. F., Hogenboom, B. — 2007-10-29

Developing Regions Facing China in a Neoliberalized World

Jilberto, A. E. F., Hogenboom, B. — 2007-10-29

The rapid expansion of China is one of the key economic and political issues at the start of the twenty-first century. China's importance in South-South trade (and competition) as well as in South-South investment has already brought about many changes for developing regions, and they are likely to be extrapolated in the years to come. The growing economic position of the biggest developing country in the world implies much greater political power, affecting all other countries as well as international relations and global politics. For Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern and Central Europe, the effects are likely to be far reaching. This article first looks into the global expansion of China, providing an overview of some striking economic figures. It also reviews the economic development of China, explaining how its communist party has used neoliberal measures to cause an economic transformation. It then analyzes how this transformation has affected China's role in Asia and China's policies towards the ‘Global South’. Finally, contemporary South-South relations in the context of globalized markets are discussed.

China and Africa: Building a Strategic Partnership

Konings, P. — 2007-10-29

This article focuses on China's growing engagement with Africa – a subject that has not been given due attention in African studies. Following a review of the various shifts and continuities in Sino-African relations since the 1950s, the study sets out to explain the renewed interest of China in Africa since the end of the 1980s. Africa's interests in China complement much of the agenda being promoted by Beijing. Governing and business elites within Africa see new opportunities in China: trade (growing Chinese markets for African products) and investment opportunities, ways to bolster regime stability, and strategically important partnerships. Particularly attractive for many African rulers is the alternative development model propagated by China: non-interference in state sovereignty, freedom from ‘western hegemony’, and absence of any conditions in giving aid. However, there are also points of tension. One of them is trade since the balance of trade favours China. Local industries (especially manufacturing and textiles) and merchants have been hard hit by the flood of cheap Chinese imports. In addition, the newly created Pan African organizations like the African Union and the New Economic Partnership for African Development(NEPAD) represent a challenge to non-interference in state sovereignty, and call for ‘good governance’.

Indonesia and China Today: New Challenges with a Long History

Lindblad, J. T. — 2007-10-29

There is a lively debate about the ‘China effect’ on economies in Southeast Asia that have embarked on industrialization in recent years.Will rapid growth and structural transformation of the Chinese economy undermine competitiveness in international markets of a low-wage country like Indonesia? This contribution focuses on the new challenges faced by industrialization policies in Indonesia with specific attention given to Chinese exports of similar types of products. Statistics on trade flows and revealed comparative advantage are discussed.This article also contains a historical background referring to two separate themes. The first concerns the economic position of Indonesians of Chinese descent, which goes far back in history. What does the ‘China effect’ mean to Indonesia, keeping in mind that a significant part of the Indonesian economy is dominated by Chinese Indonesians? Second, the necessity of an accelerated industrialization is considered in the context of the extreme dependence on world markets for an economy rich in natural resources like the Indonesian one. Does industrialization in competition with China imply exchanging one type of dependence for another?

Managing Editor's Note

2007-10-29