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Making the city of nations and nationalities: the politics of ethnicity and roads in Hawassa, Ethiopia*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2016

Daniel Mains  and
Eshetayehu Kinfu
Daniel Mains*
Affiliation:
University of Oklahoma, Honors College, 1300 Asp Ave, Norman, OK 73019, USA
Eshetayehu Kinfu*
Affiliation:
University of Rostock, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, 18059 Rostock, Germany and Hawassa University, School of Planning, Design, and Construction, Institute of Technology, Hawassa, Ethiopia
*
Email: dcmains@ou.edu
Email: eshetayehu@gmail.com
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Abstract

This article examines the relationship between the politics of ethnicity and road construction in Hawassa, Ethiopia. The Ethiopian state has recently invested unprecedented amounts of money in the construction of urban roads. These roads both undermine and reinforce longstanding ethnic hierarchies within Ethiopian cities. Contrary to the image promoted by the state of harmony among residents of different ethnic backgrounds, our research revealed a great deal of tension, particularly concerning the distribution of benefits from state-led infrastructural development. The experiences of residents in rapidly changing neighbourhoods, demonstrate that the benefits of recent road construction are not necessarily distributed according to the policies of the current regime. Instead, historical inequalities interact with contemporary urban development in ways that may actually disrupt the state's vision of unity through diversity. Stratification is built into the city and attempts to reshape the city necessarily interact with recent and long-standing inequalities.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 54 , Issue 4 , December 2016 , pp. 645 - 669
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Footnotes

*

Research for this article was supported by the Institute of International Education, the University of Oklahoma and Hawassa University. We would like to thank Lucas Bessire, Marco Di Nunzio, Jessica Pearson-Patel, Erika Robb Larkins, Jed Stevenson and Noah Theriault for comments on drafts of the article.

References

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Interviews

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Doro Arbata resident, Hawassa. 18.12.2013.Google Scholar
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