The Ethnogenesis of the Oromo Nation and Its Implications for Politics in Ethiopia

¹ Ryan, Stephen, Ethnic Conflict in International Relations (Aldershot, 1990), pp. xix–xxi.

² See Young, M. Crawford, The Politics of Cultural Pluralism (Madison, WI, 1976), p. 72, and Young, M. Crawford (ed.), The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism (Madison, WI, 1993), pp. 21–3.

³ Davidson, Basil, The Black Man's Burden: Africa and the curse of the nation-state (New York and London), pp. 10–12.

⁴ Patterson, Orlando, Ethnic Chauvinism: the reactionary impulse (New York, 1977), pp. 81–5.

⁵ Ibid. pp. 43–5.

⁶ Hassan, Mohammed, The Oromo of Ethiopia: a history, 1570–1860 (Cambridge and New York, 1990), p. xiii.

⁷ Jalata, Asafa, Oromia and Ethiopia: state formation and ethnonational conflict, 1868–1992 (Boulder, CO, 1993), p. 16.

⁸ See Legesse, Asmarom, Gada: three approaches to the study of African society (New York, 1973).

⁹ Keller, Edmond J., Revolutionary Ethiopia: from empire to people's republic (Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1988), p. 159.

¹⁰ Lewis, Herbert S., A Galla Monarchy: Jimma Abba Jifar, Ethiopia, 1830–1932 (Madison, WI, 1965), p. 23.

¹¹ See Holcomb, Bonnie K. and Ibssa, Sissai, The Invention of Ethiopia: the making of a dependent colonial state in Northeast Africa (Trenton, NJ, 1990).

¹² Baxter, P. T. W., ‘Ethiopia's Unacknowledged Problem: the Oromo’, in African Affairs (London), 77, 308, 07 1978, pp. 283–96.

¹³ Gilkes, Patrick, The Dying Lion: feudalism and modernization in Ethiopia (London, 1975), p. 206.

¹⁴ Jalata, op. cit. pp. 153–4.

¹⁵ Gilkes, op. cit. p. 225, states that the Mecha Oromo Self-Help Association was founded in 1967, whereas according to Jalata, Asafa, ‘Sociocultural Origins of the Oromo National Movement in Ethiopia’, in Journal of Political and Military Sociology (New Brunswick, NJ), 21, 2, Winter 1993, p. 73, it had been in existence since 1963.

¹⁶ Marina, and Ottaway, David, Ethiopia: empire in revolution (New York, 1978), p. 91.

¹⁷ ‘Oromia Speaks: an interview with a member of the Central Committee of the Oromo Liberation Front’, in Horn of Africa (Summit, NJ), 1980, p. 24.

¹⁸ Keller, Edmond J., ‘Politics and Government’, in Ethiopia: a country profile (Washington, DC, Library of Congress, 1993), pp. 401–93.

¹⁹ See Keller, Edmond J., ‘Remaking the Ethiopian State’, in Zartman, I. William (ed.), Collapsed States: the disintegration and restoration of legitimiate authority (Boulder, CO, 1995).

²⁰ For example, 43 out of the 53 members of the Supreme Council of the EPRDF in 1994 belonged to the predominantly Tigrean TPLF and the predominantly Amhara Ethiopian People's Democratic Movements, according to Oromo Liberation Front, US Office, ‘Oromia’, May 1994, p. 16.

²¹ Pausewang, Siegfried, The 1994 Election and Democracy in Ethiopia (Oslo, Norwegian Institute of Human Rights, 11 1994), p. 2.

²² Ibid. p. 1.

²³ Gurr, Ted Robert (ed.), Minorities at Risk: a global view of ethnopolitical conflicts (Washington, DC, US Institute of Peace Press, 1993), pp. 5–6.

²⁴ See Barber, Ben, ‘Coming Back to Life: will the Oromos' cultural revival split Ethiopia?’, Washington, DC, 08 1994. This freelance journalist quotes a young Oromo as saying, ‘When the OLF had a regional office here, it was very popular. Now it's closed down. Now people are even afraid to speak of the existence of the OLF organization. Oromos fully support the OLF. But we are afraid to say it. I'm sure people will support it in an election.’

²⁵ See Huntington, Samuel, ‘Political Development in Ethiopia: a peasant-based dominantparty democracy?’, Report to US AID/Ethiopia, May 1993.