L'Ethiopie va-t-elle éclater ? Conflits politiques, économie et société en pays arssi (1900-1935).

Abstract

Abbas Aji—Is Ethiopia Going To Break Up? Political Clashes, Economy and Society in Arssi Land (1900-1935). The Ethiopian modem state has corne out of conquest, as the south was incorpo-rated into the Christian kingdom of Shawa, whose power grew under Menelik II (1889-1913). Following the centralization of the state, traditional Abyssinia's socioeconomic model was imposed. In the south, it took the form of colonial feu-dalism, which entailed expropriating land, installing a political and judiciary administration, and establishing cultural domination through language and religion. Two interdependent variables, class and ethnie group, help us understand political, economie and cultural clashes between center and periphery, herein Oromo. Although the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution has apparently resolved the social class antagonism of a feudal-capitalistic society, it has neither settled the nationality problem nor undone structures of domination. Ethnie conflicts and national groups'aspirations are still the major causes underlying bloody warfare and the crisis of the united state. Whether this empire-state will survive or break up depends on a fair and coherent settlement of ail these problems.