Securitisation of development in Ethiopia: the discourse and politics of developmentalism

Abstract

This paper examines the developmental discourse of the Ethiopian government since 2001. This discourse frames poverty as an existential threat to Ethiopia, and it securitises development. The securitisation of a public issue gives credence to the immediate need for wider state powers and the aggressive mobilisation of (natural, financial and human) resources – at times by ignoring agreed-upon conventions – to combat a perceived existential threat. Thus, the argument is that the securitisation of development is rationalising the drive to aggressively extract and mobilise resources as well as increasing the power and stature of the ruling coalition.

[Sécuritisation et développement en Éthiopie : le discours et la politique du développementisme.] Cet article examine le discours développementiste du gouvernement éthiopien depuis 2001. Ce discours place la pauvreté comme une menace existentielle à laquelle doit faire face l'Éthiopie, et « sécuritise » le développement. La sécuritisation d'une question publique ajoute foi à un besoin immédiat en pouvoirs élargis de l'État et en une mobilisation agressive des ressources (naturelles, financières et humaines) – à certains moments en ignorant les conventions conclues – pour combattre une menace existentielle perçue. Ainsi, l'argument ici défendu est que la sécuritisation du développement rationnalise la direction prise qui vise à extraire et mobiliser des ressources de manière agressive et à augmenter le pouvoir et l'importance de la coalition au pouvoir.

Keywords:

• existential threat
• ‘land grabbing’
• EPRDF
• securitisation
• developmental state
• Ethiopia

Mots-clés:

• menace existentielle
• accaparement des terres
• sécuritisation
• état développementiste
• Éthiopie

Acknowledgements

I thank those who commented on earlier versions of this paper, especially (alphabetically) Asnake Kefale, Assefa Fisseha, Dereje Feyissa, Nigist Haile and Ulf Engel.

Note on contributor

Fana Gebresenbet is a PhD candidate in the joint PhD programme in Global and Area Studies offered by the IPSS and the Global and European Studies Institute of the University of Leipzig.

Notes

1. A similar but less convincing speech act towards securitising democratisation could also be discerned (see for example EPRDF 2010, 71–72, 78, 103, 114). Alagaw Ababu (personal communication) also contends that development is being securitised, but the approach he takes is by investigating the nexus between development and security in Ethiopian developmental discourse.

2. The discourse of building a developmental state emerged during the Tehadso (Renewal) of the EPRDF and, most importantly, contrary to the agenda of the losing faction from the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the dominant of the coalition partners of the EPRDF, in 2001. It took a few years for a fuller articulation of this agenda, and it took centre stage after the post-2005 election violence discredited the ‘good governance and democratisation’ agenda of the ruling party. The posting of excerpts from Meles' MA thesis online in 2006 is part of this articulation and process.

3. Mesmer is an emic term indicating one's or the party's political line, aim and stance, below an overarching party ideology and programme.

4. Development did not come to the fore only after Tehadso, rather it was central, among others, in foreign engagements prior to it. There was only an elaboration of how much ‘internal problems weighed on the prospects for our national survival’ after 2001 (FDRE 2002, 3).

5. Addis Raey, a periodical of the ruling coalition which claims to focus on theoretical analysis of contemporary issues, started publication and circulation a few months after the May 2005 elections, perhaps with the objective of disseminating the ‘developmental’ message to a wider section of the population through ‘detailed’ analysis of pertinent contemporary issues.

6. The record of Ethiopia's dealings with the free press and journalists is bad, to say the least. For details on the repressive measures the Ethiopian government took in 2013, see http://www.cpj.org/2014/02/attacks-on-the-press-in-2013-ethiopia.php.