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‘Dreams don't come true in Eritrea’: anomie and family disintegration due to the structural militarisation of society*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2013

Nicole Hirt  and
Abdulkader Saleh Mohammad
Nicole Hirt*
Affiliation:
GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Institute of African Affairs, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20354 Hamburg, Germany
Abdulkader Saleh Mohammad*
Affiliation:
University of Oslo, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Sociology and Human Geography, Moltke Moes vei 31, 0851 Oslo, Norway
*
Email: hirt@giga-hamburg.de
Email: a.s.mohammed@sosgeo.uio.no
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Abstract

This article analyses contemporary Eritrea's acute crisis within the framework of the theory of anomie. It is based on the hypothesis that militarisation, forced labour, mass exodus and family disintegration can be interpreted as the consequences of two incompatible norm and value systems: the collectivist, nationalistic and militaristic worldview of the former liberation front and ruling party People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), and the traditional cultural system of Eritrea's society. In 2002 the regime introduced an unlimited ‘development campaign’, thereby forcing large parts of the society to live as conscripts and perform unpaid labour. This has caused a mass exodus of young people and a rapid process of family disintegration. The article is based on empirical fieldwork and evaluates the ongoing developments which have led to rapid economic decline and the destabilisation of the entire fabric of society.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 139 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

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Footnotes

*

Our profound gratitude goes to the Fritz-Thyssen Foundation, Cologne, Germany for supporting our research project on the militarisation of Eritrean society from 2008–2010. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers of the text for their constructive comments and suggestions.

References

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