Social Change: A Pedagogic Inquiry of Ethiopian Ethnicity/Tribe/Gossa

146 Pages·2013·1.12 MB·English

by  Alemayehu Habte

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Education Doctoral Dissertations in Critical
School of Education
Pedagogy
9-2011
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Alemayehu Habte
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Habte, Alemayehu, "Social Change: A Pedagogic Inquiry of Ethiopian Ethnicity/Tribe/Gossa" (2011).
Education Doctoral Dissertations in Critical Pedagogy. 2.
https://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_critped_docdiss/2
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SOCIAL CHANGE:
A PEDAGOGIC INQUIRY OF ETHIOPIAN ETHNICITY/TRIBE/GOSSA

A DISSERTATION

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS

By

Alemayehu Habte

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

September, 2011
UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS. MINNESOTA

Social Change: A Pedagogic Inquiry of Ethnicity/Tribe/Gossa

We certify that we have read this dissertation and approved it as adequate in scope and
quality. We have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any
and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made.

Dissertation Committee

________________________________________
Eleni Roulis, Ph. D, Committee Chair

________________________________________
Jeanette Hoffman, Ed. D, Committee Member

________________________________________
Margo Lloyd, Ed. D, Committee Member

________________________________________
Final Approval Date
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES 5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6
PREFACE 7
ABSTRACT 8
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 9
Statement of Problem 10
Significance of Study 12
Design of Study 13
Limitations of Study 14
Definition of Terms 15
Organization of Study 16

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 18
A Partial History of the Russian Empire 19
Leninist Influence on Ethiopian Students 22
History of Ethiopia 30
The Reign of Emperor Tewodros II 30
The Reign of Emperor Yohannis IV 35
The Reign of Emperor Menilek II 40
The Reign of Emperor Haile-Selassie 44
Oromo/Galla Migration into Ethiopia 57
The Gada system 58
The Creation of Eritrea 60
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 69
Research Question 71

CHAPTER FOUR: PLATONIC DIALOGUE 72
Prologue to Platonic Dialogue 72
The Participants 73
Platonic Dialogue 73
Answers to Research Question 128

CHAPTER FIVE: MY JOURNEY IN ANDRAGOGY 132
Suggestion for Future Research 136
Conclusions 136

REFERENCES 142

3
BIBLIOGRAPHY 144
4
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Provincial Map of Ethiopia 26

Figure 2 Kilil Map of Ethiopia 27

Figure 3 Map of Contemporary Ethiopia 30

5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A reflection on this dissertation puts me in a position where I realize that social change is

and an unending task. The experience of writing this dissertation and carrying out of informal
and philosophical dialogues on Ethiopian Gossa with various individuals gave me a sense of
certainty that social change, after all, is indisputably possible.
I would like to thank my dissertation committee, all of whom broadened the scope of my
inquiry into the notion of Gossa/tribe. More particularly, I thank Dr. Roulis for helping me focus
on one research method, the historical research method, and asking me a critical question, “How
did Ethiopia get in such a mess?” This established the initial organization of the dissertation. I
also want to thank Dr. Margo Lloyd, Dr. Jeannette Johnson, and Dr. Emma Duren for being
members of my dissertation committee. I should, furthermore, thank all the members of Cohort-3
for their interest in critical pedagogy as a discipline that upholds social change. I must single out,
however, and thank Jeanette Johnson for her keen interest in the multicultural aspect of critical
pedagogy.
Finally, I want to thank my son Natnael A. Habte and his mother Mavis Habte for their
steadfast interest in my successful completion of this doctoral program.
6
PREFACE

The basic context for this work is my lived experience and the lived experience of the two other
people who were a part of the platonic dialogue that is the heart of this dissertation. Our lived
experiences, informal education and formal education, both in our homeland and since coming to
the United States were blended in the dialogue.

The influences of being born and raised in Ethiopia are evident in this dissertation even though it
was edited to formalize the writing for the purpose of the dissertation. Among the elements that
are evident is the repetition of stories and historical information in chapters two and four. A great
influence is the oral tradition of repetition to commit things to memory. The repetition has been
left to reflect my voice and my authorship of this dissertation.

Chapter four, A Platonic Dialogue was edited for spelling errors only, the remainder is the voice
of three Ethiopians in a dialogue about the meaning of nation, nationalities, Gossa/tribes and how
these have contributed to the mess in our home country of Ethiopia.

My greatest hope is that those who read this will understand that we who come from the Horn of
Africa do not have violence and inhumanity in our nature, and that the current unrest, violence
and political upheaval in that part of the world have more to do with colonialism and conquest of
our country by foreign interests.

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ABSTRACT
The ultimate purpose of this dissertation is to explore social change, as characterized by
critical pedagogy, within Ethiopian Gossa (in English tribes). Critical pedagogy, as a discipline,
is vociferous against oppression of any form. The mechanism it uses to accomplish social change
is adult education. Adult education within the framework of critical pedagogy is dialogical in
nature and grounded in the daily lives of human beings. The fact of its nature being dialogical is,
empowering and brings critical consciousness into being.
Critical pedagogy is said to be empowering in the sense that it affirms, confirms, and
upholds the truth and validity of one’s experience as a springboard into the dialogue. This is
where individuals take charge of their own experience and assert them. This dissertation is about
the dialogue of Ethiopians who are asserting their experiences and the lives they have lived, or
are living. Their views on ethnicity/tribe/Gossa are reflective of their experiences and social
knowledge.
The dialogical aspect of critical pedagogy is where critical consciousness is brought into
being. In this dialogical aspect, there is the give and take of ideas, concepts, beliefs, arguments
and counterarguments. Consequently, this is where people change their minds about their views
or just maintain the status quo.
In this researcher’s view, Vladimir Lenin’s doctrine of self-determination was the
foundation for the current problems of ethnic strife within Ethiopia. A study of Russian history,
revolving around this doctrine, is made to demonstrate its inapplicability to effective government
in Ethiopia. Furthermore, a rigorous philosophical examination of the notion of ethnicity or
Gossa is made to pave the way for social change.
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

The socio-political atmosphere in Ethiopia today is filled with tension at people-to-
people, and political levels. People are not friendly towards each other, and they do not trust each
other. This distrust came into existence during the period of the socialist government which
governed from 1974-1991. The early months, of the socialist government were characterized by
a great deal of bloodshed. Although the Leninist language of nations and nationalities was used
in the 1960s by the leadership of the student movement, the social government put it into official
use, resulting in the tribes being recognized as nations. Here, the critical point to note is that no
explanation or justification was given as to why the tribes were being viewed as nations. The
concept of nations and nationalities became prominent within the Marxist-Leninist framework,
which characterized the revolutionary aspect of the socialist government. People were shot on
the spot, if, for some reason, they were deemed to be counter-revolutionaries. Personal grudges
became an excuse for killing anybody with whom the person doing the killing had a political or
personal disagreement or falling out.
The socialist government, with the help of United States, was replaced by the current
tribe-based government. The tribe-based government took the concept of nations and
nationalities and made it part of the Ethiopian constitution, which will be further discussed in the
dissertation. Once again, no justification was given for the use of the Leninist language of
nations and nationalities, but Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, was a part of the student
movement in the 1960’s, which made broad use of this language.
The political atmosphere became tense and hostile after the assumption of power by the
current tribe-based government. There are three actions that this government took that
Social Change: A Pedagogic Inquiry of Ethiopian Ethnicity/Tribe/Gossa 9