Table Of Content‘EthiopiainTheorydeservesthewidestreadership.Firstforitsrecoveryoftheintellec-
tualandpoliticalenterpriseofthelastthreeEthiopiangenerationsthroughadazzling
methodatoncearchival,literary,andauto/ethnographic.Secondforilluminatinga
darkspaceinTwentieth-centuryglobalhistory:howintellectualsoutsideEurope,orin
diasporas,putMarxismand‘Western’socialsciencestowork.Historiansofelsewhere
intheTricontinentwillfindavaluablelensinthisportraitoftheintellectualorigins,
climaxandaftermathsoftheEthiopianRevolution.ForitwasnotjustinEthiopiathat
theemancipatorypromiseofc.1960collapsedthroughitsowncontradictionsandyet,
liketheanchortoablueschord,stubbornlypersists.’
–RichardDrayton,RhodesProfessorofImperialHistory,King’sCollegeLondon,authorof
Nature’sGovernment:Science,ImperialBritain,andthe“Improvement”oftheWorld.
‘EthiopiainTheoryisanambitious,surprisingbook.ItsfocusistheEthiopianstudent
movementof the1960sand1970sinAddisAbabaandacrosstheglobe,anditsrela-
tionshiptothegreatupheavalsofrevolutionaryEthiopia.Itgivesusahighlyoriginal
analysisoftheideasproducedbythismovementbasedonaclosereadingofitstexts,
butdoesmuchmorethanthattoo.Itoffersnotjustananalysisofthesocialscience
ideasofthestudentsthemselvesandthewaysinwhichtheyshapedandwereshaped
byEthiopianhistory,butalsoofthecategoriesusedtostudythoseideas.Thisdouble
movereflectsadeepinterestinunderstandingthepoliticsofknowledgeproduction
inEthiopiaandAfrica,andgivesusanovelmeansofdoingso.Itisamovethatisalso
rootedinZeleke’sownlifestory,andisthusanactofself-recoverytoo.Thiscrossing
ofdisciplines,genresandviewpointshasproducedanextraordinarilyproductiveand
engagingaccountofamomentoustime.’
–JocelynAlexander,ProfessorofCommonwealthStudies,UniversityofOxford,authorof
TheUnsettledLand:ThePoliticsofLandandState-makinginZimbabwe,1893–2003.
‘Thissuperbbookwilltransformalldiscussionsconcerningtheproductionofknow-
ledge. Ranging through the archives, moving across philosophy and critical theory,
andtraversingsocialhistory,EthiopiainTheoryframesastunninglyoriginalaccount
of the Ethiopian student movement of the 1960s and ’70s as a site for the produc-
tionofradicalsocialscience.Ratherthanthemerereceptionofrevolutionarytheory
inanAfricancontext,Zelekeshowsusthedynamicsof itsgeneration.Thereistruly
nothingintheliteraturethatcomesclosetothedepthofthismulti-leveled,interdis-
ciplinarystudy.Zeleke’soutstandingbookdeservesthewidestpossiblereadershipin
socialhistory,Africanstudies,post-colonialanalysis,andMarxistandcriticaltheoryin
general.’
–DavidMcNally,CullenDistinguishedProfessorofHistory,UniversityofHouston,author
of MonstersoftheMarket:Zombies,VampiresandGlobalCapitalism
‘Politicalresearchontheperiodfromroughly1966tothemid-1970softenfailtoartic-
ulatetheglobaldimensionsof studentmovementsinAfricancountries.Thismuch-
overduestudyoftheEthiopianexampleoffers,withnuance,richhistoricalevidence,
andwonderfullyclearprose,therevolutionarysituationinwhich,asitsauthorElleni
CentimeZelekeaptlyputsit,thebanditistransformedinto“aguerillaorleader.”In
response to those who cry “illiberalism,” this work reveals an alignment with other
movementsofwhatisattimescalled“theblackradicaltradition”throughwhichthe
response,echoedwithexplanatoryforceanddefiancethroughthecorridorsofhistory,
isthatthoseatthebottomcannotandshouldnotwait.Assuch,thisextraordinarybook
alsoilluminatesthecomplexity,strengths,andshortcomingsofrevolutionaryformsof
knowledgeandpraxisinAfro-modernity.’
–LewisR.Gordon,ProfessorofPhilosophy,UniversityofConnecticut,authorof Existentia
AfricanaandWhatFanonSaid.
‘Anoriginalandpathbreakingstudyoftheideologyandtheintellectualtraditionsthat
informedtheEthiopianrevolutionof 1974.EthiopiainTheoryprovidessophisticated
analysisoftheideasoftheEthiopianstudentmovementofthe1960sandthewayin
whichtheseideashavecontinuedtoshapestatepoliciesincontemporaryEthiopia.
Thismeticulouslyresearchedbookoffersauniqueperspectiveforthestudyofrevolu-
tionsandthesocialistexperienceinAfricaaswellastheprocessoflocalknowledge
production.Itwillundoubtedlyappealtoawiderangeofscholarsbeyondthefieldof
Africanstudies.’
–AhmadSikainga,ProfessorofAfricanHistory,OhioStateUniversity,authorof Cityof
SteelandFire:AsocialHistoryofAtbara,Sudan’sRailwayTown,1906–1984.
EthiopiainTheory
Historical Materialism
Book Series
EditorialBoard
SébastienBudgen(Paris)
DavidBroder(Rome)
SteveEdwards(London)
JuanGrigera(London)
MarcelvanderLinden(Amsterdam)
PeterThomas(London)
volume 201
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/hm
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Zeleke,E.Centime,author.
Title:Ethiopiaintheory:revolutionandknowledgeproduction,1964-2016/by
ElleniCentimeZeleke.
Othertitles:Historicalmaterialismbookseries;v.201.1570-1522
Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,2019.|Series:Historicalmaterialismbook
series,1570-1522;volume201|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2019034154(print)|LCCN2019034155(ebook)|
ISBN9789004414754(hardback)|ISBN9789004414778(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Studentmovements–Ethiopia.|Ethiopians–Foreigncountries–
Intellectuallife–20thcentury.|Ethiopians–Foreigncountries–Intellectual
life–21stcentury.|Collegestudents–Ethiopia–Intellectuallife–20thcentury.|
Collegestudents–Ethiopia–Intellectuallife–21stcentury.|
Ethiopia–History–Revolution,1974.
Classification:LCC DT387.95.Z452019(print)|LCC DT387.95(ebook)|
DDC963.07–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019034154
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2019034155
TypefacefortheLatin,Greek,andCyrillicscripts:“Brill”.Seeanddownload:brill.com/brill‑typeface.
ISSN1570-1522
ISBN978-90-04-41475-4(hardback)
ISBN978-90-04-41477-8(e-book)
Copyright2020byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
KoninklijkeBrillNVincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillHes&DeGraaf,BrillNijhoff,BrillRodopi,
BrillSense,HoteiPublishing,mentisVerlag,VerlagFerdinandSchöninghandWilhelmFinkVerlag.
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Contents
Foreword ix
DonaldL.Donham
Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations xiii
NoteonCitations xiv
Introduction 1
1 RevolutionaryEthiopia 1
2 BackgroundtotheProject 7
3 Fieldwork 12
4 StructureoftheBook 13
Part 1
KnowledgeProductionandSocialChangeinEthiopia
1 TheChildrenoftheRevolution:TowardanAlternativeMethod 19
1 IDon’tHaveTizita 23
2 SocialScienceIsaBattlefield:RethinkingtheHistoriographyofthe
EthiopianRevolution 38
1 EarlyHistoriesoftheRevolutionandtheInternationalLeft 46
2 HistoriographyoftheLiberatedZones 60
3 HistoricalContiguity 63
4 TheStudentMovementGrowsUp 69
3 Challenge:SocialScienceintheLiteratureoftheEthiopianStudent
Movement 87
1 Challenge1965–9:TheMomentofDeparture 99
2 OurCollectiveBackwardness 102
3 TheMethodoftheIdea 111
4 TheMakingofaProgramme 116
5 TheMomentofManoeuvre:DebatesontheNationalQuestion 123
6 ChallengeintheWorld 137
7 Conclusion 146
viii contents
4 WhenSocialScienceConceptsBecomeNeutralArbitersofSocial
Conflict:Rethinkingthe2005ElectionsinEthiopia 148
1 The2005FederalElections 150
2 Discussion 161
5 PassiveRevolution:LivingintheAftermathofthe2005Elections 165
Part 2
TheoryasMemoir
6 TheProblemoftheSocialSciencesinAfrica 187
1 TheProblemoftheSocialSciencesinAfrica 192
2 RethinkingTransitionstoCapitalism 209
3 KnowledgeProductioninAfrica 224
4 AnthropologicalNatureandthePossibilityofCritique 231
5 Critical-PracticalThought 241
6 TheHumanasSubjectandObject 244
7 ATheoryofHumanDevelopment 247
8 Coda 254
Bibliography 257
Index 273
Foreword
The Ethiopian revolution – that cultural earthquake that produced at once
progressivesocialmeasures,prodigiouskilling,andthespewingforthof mil-
lionsintowhatisnowtheEthiopiandiaspora–continuestohauntscholars,
if not indeed all Ethiopians. Elleni Zeleke grew up in exile and begins this
wide-rangingstudy–partphilosophy,parthistory,partanthropology–withan
accountofagenreofsonginthepost-revolutionaryeracalledtizita,‘memory’.
ToElleniasachild,suchsongsseemedonlytorubsaltintorawwounds.She
wantedtocuretheadultsoftheirbackward-lookingnostalgia.Butasshegrew
older, she discovered increasing layers of complexity in any such ‘cure’. This
bookistheproductofthatjourney.
ThefocusthatEllenibringstotherevolutioninvolvestheEthiopianstudent
movementthatbeganinthe1960sinAddisAbaba,aswellasamongEthiopi-
ansstudyingabroadinNorthAmericaandEurope.Ithaslongbeenappreciated
thatthesestudentswerecriticalactorsinthe1974revolution,andthepresent
workisprecededbytwootherdistinguishedbooksontheEthiopianstudent
movement, by Randi Balsvik in 1985 and by Bahru Zewde in 2014.What sets
Elleni’s approach apart from both of her predecessors is an imaginative and
productiveidentificationwiththeearlyleadersofthestudentmovementand,
moreimportantly,withthekindof socialtheorytheywielded,Marxism.This
leads,throughanexaminationof whatEllenicallsknowledgeproduction,to
a way of understanding historical materialism that is different to that of the
revolutionariesthemselves.
Sincethelatenineteenthcentury,Ethiopianintellectualshavestudiedthe
restoftheworldinordertounderstandtheirownsociety’s‘backwardness’,but
thatformofknowledgetypicallytooktheWest(includingitsMarxism)onthe
West’sterms.Bythe1970s,onecouldevensaythattheWesternuniversityhad
playedanessentialroleintheEthiopianrevolution.Perhapsthemostoriginal
aspectofElleni’sworkisherexplorationofhowthesethemesinterrelateand
herconsequentattempttoconstructaformof Marxismfromapostcolonial
pointofview.
ThisbookledmetolookbackatsomeofthewritingsofEthiopianstudents
inthelate1960s.Iwas,astheysay,blownawaybypieceslikethatofWalleligne
Mekonnen. But Walleligne, like many others, was soon dead. In conversing
withtheghostsof thestudents,Elleniaimstoreinvigoraterevolutionarythe-
ory.Virtually all the great issues of the Ethiopian student movement – land,
nationalities,themeaningofdemocracy–continueascriticalquestionsinthe
country in 2019. Can Ethiopians now somehow redeem the sufferings of the
x foreword
dead,escapetheirmistakes,whilehonouringtheirvauntingambitions?That,
forme,isthefinalquestionthisbookposes.
DonaldL.Donham
DistinguishedResearchProfessorofAnthropology
UniversityofCalifornia,Davis
