1/12: Analysing politics in #Ethiopia is to try to capture a moving target. Our scholarly approach and understanding have over decades been "blunted" by the incessant fundamental political events happening every so often: large scale conflicts, mass atrocities, revolutions, etc.
2/12: This constant stream of political shocks has become a “normal”, leading to a heedless state of mind and blunting our methodological and analytical approaches and frames in understanding long durée political evolvement in #Ethiopia.
3/12: The developments over the past few years, should however be a wake-up call for us all. Throughout a turbulent history, some core metaphors and narratives have underpinned and projected a notion of this enduring historically imposed or imagined community called #Ethiopia.
4/12: Key among this has been the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church #EOTC. Founded in the 4th century, it is one of the oldest institutionalised #Christian communities in the world. Today however, we also observe the withering of the Church.
5/12: The Orthodox Church in #Eritrea broke away 3 decades ago; followed by #Tegaru clergy who announced the establishment of a separate Church in Tigray during the war, as a protest against Church leaders’ quiescent and even endorsement of the atrocity war on Tigray.
6/12: And now also #Oromo church leaders announce the establishment of a separate Oromo (+) synod, as an expressed response to centuries of marginalisation and lack of representation of Oromo language and culture in liturgy and Church affairs .
7/12: Why is this relevant, as the Protestants and Muslims are #EOTC is one of ? The issue is not the religious idiosyncrasy of the Church, but its representation as a core metaphor of an imagined (albeit imperial) Ethiopia – and its sovereignty, invincibility, & indivisibility.
8/12: Does the withering unity & centrality of #EOTC forewarn something more disconcerting? With a weakened & increasingly contested #Ethiopia ‘imagined community’ – what all-embracing national symbols & narratives are left representing the diverse ethno-political aspirations?
9/12: Current developments in #Ethiopia may thus signify something much more profound, deeper, and impactfull than this ancient empire has ever experienced in modern history. The question is: how should we approach this situation analytically?
10/12: Researchers and analysts ought thus to take a step back to reflect and recalibrate the temporality, spatiality, and scale of framing of the current changes in #Ethiopia, to try to understand their lasting impact.
11/12: And, let me add, diplomats, foreign envoys, and development industry, should also reflect upon how these events shape their understanding of and relationship with #Ethiopia.
12/12: It seems obvious that blindly supporting an “imagined” centre, believing in the restoration of a singular central authority, glossing over the centrifugal forces driving political developments in #Ethiopia, may not provide for its optimal sustainable development strategy.
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