The Struggling State: Teachers, Mass Militarization and the Reeducation of Eritrea

259 Pages·2016·3.208 MB·English

by  Jennifer Riggan

The Struggling State

Th e
Strug gl ing Stat e
Nationalism, Mass Militarization,
and the Education of Eritrea
Jennifer Riggan
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia • Rome • Tokyo
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122
www.temple.edu/tempress
Copyright © 2016 by Temple University—Of The Commonwealth System
of Higher Education
All rights reserved
Published 2016
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Riggan, Jennifer, 1971– author.
The struggling state : nationalism, mass militarization, and the education
of Eritrea / Jennifer Riggan.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4399-1270-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4399-1272-0
(e-book) 1. Civil-military relations—Eritrea. 2. Militarization—Eritrea.
3. Militarism—Eritrea. 4. Teachers—Eritrea. 5. Education and state—
Eritrea. 6. Nationalism—Eritrea. 7. Eritrea—Politics and government
—1993– I. Title.
JQ3583.A38R54 2016
320.9635—dc23
2015013666
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992
Printed in the United States of America
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Ermias

Contents
Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Everyday Authoritarianism, Teachers, and
the Decoupling of Nation and State 1
1 S truggling for the Nation: Contradictions of Revolutionary
Nationalism 33
2 “ It Seemed like a Punishment”: Coercive State Effects
and the Maddening State 57
3 S tudents or Soldiers? Troubled State Technologies and
the Imagined Future of Educated Eritrea 89
4 E ducating Eritrea: Disorder, Disruption, and Remaking
the Nation 122
5 Th e Teacher State: Morality and Everyday Sovereignty
over Schools 155
Conclusion: Escape, Encampment, and the Alchemy
of Nationalism 193
Notes 211
References 221
Index 231

Acknowledgments
Ih ave tried to write this book with honesty, integrity, and compassion.
It has been a long process, and I am deeply indebted to many people
who have provided support, insight, and advice along the way. Many
Eritreans at all levels—Ministry of Education personnel, school directors,
teachers, students, and others—were gracious enough to share their obser-
vations, their analyses, their experience, and sometimes even their lives and
friendship with me. All were working hard to make Eritrea the best country
possible for its young people. I admire and deeply respect each individual
I spoke with in the process of researching this book for all the struggles
they took on. I am very grateful to all those who enlightened me with their
visions, hopes, and criticisms. I especially thank the teachers and others who
shared so much with me over the course of several years.
I was fortunate to receive a postdoctoral fellowship from the National
Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation, which was invaluable in
the completion of this book. I also received funding from a Social Science
Research Council International Dissertation Field Research Fellowship and
a Fulbright/IIE student fellowship to complete this research. The National
Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation provided an opportunity
for wonderful mentoring. I am particularly grateful to Aurolyn Luykx and
Leslie Bartlett for their encouragement.
The title of and several long segments from Chapter 2 are from Jen-
nifer Riggan, “It Seemed like a Punishment”: Teacher Transfers, Hollow