Seizing the Violence of the Ethiopian Transition: Political Dialogue for Survivors Politics

The paper analyzes the root causes of political violence in Ethiopia, attributing it to an institutional crisis within the EPRDF and a historical 'cult of violence'. It proposes a transition from a 'politics of victimhood' to a 'survivors' political project' inspired by Mahmood Mamdani's theories and the hagiography of Saint Krəstos Śämra. The author suggests that peace-building requires a multi-track political dialogue, a sovereign apology from the state for historical violence, and the transformation of enemies into political adversaries to build a multicultural state.

• The current political violence in Ethiopia is characterized as post-social movement violence emerging during political liberalization, driven by an institutional crisis within the hegemonic ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
• Ethiopian political culture has a long-standing 'cult of violence' where violence has become the dominant means of doing politics, a legacy traced back to the Ethiopian Student Movement (ESM) of the 1960s.
• Political identities in Ethiopia are entrenched in a binary of 'victim-perpetrator' and 'oppressor-oppressed', where subnational identities are often constructed by mobilizing memories of state violence.
• The author proposes a 'survivors' political project' as a way to transcend the division of communities into victims and perpetrators, suggesting that this approach is more inclusive and accommodative than projects based on victory or victimhood.
• A critical component for peace-building in Ethiopia is a 'sovereign apology' and recognition by the state for all forms of violence inflicted across different historical periods to end the politics of victimhood.
• The author advocates for a multi-track political dialogue that first focuses on 'silencing the guns' and disarming political radicalism before attempting to rebuild a multicultural state and citizenship.

APA

Ashine, Y. (2022). Seizing the Violence of the Ethiopian Transition: Political Dialogue for Survivors Politics. Good Governance Africa. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2022/03/Seizing-the-Violence-of-the-Ethiopian-Transition.pdf

Chicago

Ashine, Yonas. Seizing the Violence of the Ethiopian Transition: Political Dialogue for Survivors Politics. Good Governance Africa, 2022. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2022/03/Seizing-the-Violence-of-the-Ethiopian-Transition.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ashine |first1=Yonas |title=Seizing the Violence of the Ethiopian Transition: Political Dialogue for Survivors Politics |publisher=Good Governance Africa |date=27 January 2022 |url=https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2022/03/Seizing-the-Violence-of-the-Ethiopian-Transition.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ashine2022seizing, author = {Ashine, Yonas}, title = {{Seizing the Violence of the Ethiopian Transition: Political Dialogue for Survivors Politics}}, institution = {Good Governance Africa}, year = {2022}, month = jan, url = {https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2022/03/Seizing-the-Violence-of-the-Ethiopian-Transition.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }