Remembering the revolutionary past: the post-revolutionary generation(s) of Ethiopia and memory of the revolutionary period (late 1960s – late 1970s)

ABSTRACT

The revolutionary period in Ethiopia (from the mid-1960s until the late 1970s) has long been a matter of scholarly interest and public debate. This article examines this period from the perspective of memory studies: the ways in which this period is remembered, the meanings attached to it and the roles the memory of this period plays in contemporary Ethiopian politics and society. More specifically, the paper focuses on perspectives of members of the post-revolutionary generation (i.e. Ethiopians in their 30s and 40s). As the study shows, members of this generation indeed see this period as extremely important both to them personally and to contemporary Ethiopia in general. It shows that the themes they associate with this period – the Leftist-Marxist ideology and practice, the legacy of armed struggle and violence, the ethnic/national question and more – are also issues crucial for understanding contemporary Ethiopia.

RÉSUMÉ

La période révolutionnaire en Éthiopie (du milieu des années 60 à la fin des années 70) a depuis longtemps fait l’objet d’un intérêt académique et d’un débat public. Cet article examine cette période du point de vue des études de la mémoire : les manières dont cette période est commémorée, les significations qui lui sont associées et les rôles que la mémoire de cette période jouent dans la politique et la société éthiopiennes contemporaines. Plus précisément, l’article se concentre sur les points de vue des membres de la génération post-révolutionnaire (c’est-à-dire des Éthiopiens dans la trentaine et la quarantaine). Comme le montre l’étude, les membres de cette génération considèrent en effet cette période comme extrêmement importante à la fois pour eux personnellement et pour l’Éthiopie contemporaine en général. L’étude montre que les thèmes qu’ils associent à cette période – l’idéologie et la pratique gauchiste-marxiste, l’héritage de la lutte armée et de la violence, la question ethnique/nationale et plus encore – sont aussi des questions essentielles à la compréhension de l’Éthiopie contemporaine.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethiopia
• historical memory
• revolutionary Ethiopia
• biographical interviews

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Éthiopie
• mémoire historique
• Éthiopie révolutionnaire
• entretiens biographiques

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Some scholars actually suggest a continuation in practice, even if not in rhetoric, between the Marxist/Communist era before 1991 and the modus operandi of the EPRDF regime after this year (Abbink 2015).

2. For an elaborate articulation concerning the grip of the revolutionary generation over politics and the public sphere in Ethiopia nowadays, see Eyob and Herrera (2016).

3. A former member of EPRP, and the head of Ginbot 7, an opposition party in contemporary Ethiopian politics.

4. It is widely agreed that it de facto started a year before (Wiebel 2015).

5. A rare exception is Bitania (2016), who analyzed films that represent the RP and the red terror.

6. Which should probably be tagged more correctly as “post memory.”

7. In particular the EPRDF’s process of decision-making, limited to a narrow circle of party officials and not transparent to the general public. The roots of this mode of decision-making are to be found in the Marxist-Leninist “Politburo,” which characterized all revolutionary parties of the 1970s and forward and apparently still characterizes the present-day EPRDF (Abbink 2015).

8. In fact, as Velikonja (2009, 546) puts it, “they prefer the past and maybe even flirt with the idea of its return mostly because they are absolutely sure it cannot return.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Ratner

David Ratner completed his PhD in sociology and anthropology at the Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel. He works as a researcher and lecturer in various academic institutions in Israel. His research interests include Ethiopian politics and society, memory in general and memory of the revolutionary period in particular, music and identity, and more.