Introduction: the limits of institutions in multiethnic societies -- 'National self-determination': federalism the Ethiopian way -- The historical trajectories of local ethnic polities: the Sidama and the Wolayta -- Ethnic politics in play: implementing self-determination in a South Ethiopian context -- Crafting ethnic politics: the formation of parties in Sidama and Wolayta -- Dealing with local minorities: the persistence of discriminatory practices under ethnic federalism -- Identities or resources at stake? controversies on national self-determination in Sidama and Wolayta -- Conclusion: the facets of ethnic federalism
Summary
Most governments in Africa, seeing the political mobilisation of ethnicity as a threat, have rejected the use of ethnic differences as an explicit basis for political representation. The one prominent exception is Ethiopia, which since 1991 has imposed a system of ethnic-based federalism that offers each ethnic group the right of self-determination. This book provides a detailed empirical study of this system at work in the complex multiethnic environment of southern Ethiopia. It finds that ethnic self-rule, in combination with the power politics of an authoritarian regime, has produced both i
