Zemecha - Assessing the Political and Social Foundations of Mass Education in Ethiopia

Zemecha 's philosophy of education is that politics and education should not be separated. Education must be for the common good; manual work and intellectual education should always go hand in hand. According to the author, the philosophy, the general mobilization, and the successful campaign of the z.emecha constitute a revolution in microcosm which sets a good example for the future advancement of the developing world

Political linkage : the relationship between education, western educated elites and the fall of Haile Selassie's feudal regime

When Westernization was introduced into Ethiopia at the beginning of this century, it was to fulfil the need of a modernizing autocracy aspiring to enter the Technological Age. But through Westernization also came a very intense Anglo-American cultural penetration. The first group of Western-educated intelligentsia integrated themselves into the feudal system, embraced western values and the American way of life. Haile Selassie hoped that the American free enterprise system would absorb those his bureaucracy could not. The missionary zeal that guided America's global policy of "containment" also created a situation whereby the U.S., in order to influence Ethiopian politics and particularly its youth, invested heavily in the ideological sector. Thus, the feudal regime, the U.S., and the first generation of Western educated elites became necessarily interdependent.There was however, a seed of contradiction in this alliance and the ideological bond that tied them. American education which moulded the new Ethiopian intelligentsia is rooted in the liberal-utilitarian tradition which promotes the values of metropolitan market economies. Autonomy and individual freedom--which forms the core of this liberal-utilitarian ideology--was accepted at face value by the new intelligentsia, but these ideological values could not be implemented in Haile Selassie's Ethiopia which was a dependent, modernizing autocracy tied to a metropolitan nation. Due to the fact that dependency and autocracy are dialectically opposed to autonomy and individual freedom, the liberal education disseminated through the Ethiopian school system and the political ideals connected with it were negated by the prevalent political realities in Ethiopia. There was also a further paradox. Since Haile Selassie's authoritarian system was guided by metropolitan capitalism, the alienated elites came to reject the latter ideology and turned towards a Socialist Political Prism. Ultimately, these new breed of Western educated intelligentsia, who were mostly students and teachers, ignited the sparks of the revolutionary ferment in the country, and all the military had to do in 1974 was deliver a coup de grace to Haile Selassie's feudal regime

The Ethiopian Revolution after 40 years (1974–2014): Plan B in progress?

In this article, I reflect on the sociopolitical impact and memory construction of the Ethiopian revolution of 1974. Decades have passed and a new political leadership has reshaped Ethiopian society after the demise of the Ethiopian revolutionary regime in May 1991, but the effects are still felt. The violent political drama of the 1970s and 1980s redefined the Ethiopian political tradition and the practices of (political) violence in the light of new revolutionary ideologies, mainly imported from abroad. The post-1991 regime has shown a particular way of handling the aftermath of the 1974 events, but evinces a number of continuities with the ideologies and practices of that era – if only because all participants and current rulers were part of the same revolutionary (student) generation. The regime presently in power is thus partly a successor regime to the “socialist” regime, having started with largely a similar socioeconomic and Marxist-ideological program. At least in one central aspect, the two regimes differ: in their practical response to the “nationalities question.” The handling of this issue after 1991 by the current regime of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front – Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (EPRDF-TPLF) has confirmed that today we in fact may see “Plan B” of the 1974 revolution being consolidated. We analyze the two strains of the Ethiopian revolution and comment on the how and why of their different paths since 1974