The Anglo-Ethiopian Society
Lecture - ONLINE - The Other Abyssinians: The Northern Oromo and the Creation of Modern Ethiopia, 1855-1913
Brian J. Yates
Tuesday 23rd May 2023
Online event starting at 19:00 BST - Public lecture (all welcome to join).
Note - Register for the event on Eventbrite and you'll be emailed a Zoom link shortly before the event.
Brian J. Yates will give a talk based on his recent book, The Other Abyssinians - The Northern Oromo and the Creation of Modern Ethiopia, 1855-1913.
Although the Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, their history has been distorted in order to buttress twentieth-century notions of a homogeneous Ethiopian state. The Other Abyssinians tells the story of the Oromo people's contribution to modern Ethiopia, tracing their experiences from the early nineteenth century onward and detailing the varied interactions of Oromo groups throughout the Ethiopian highlands. Focusing on the historic provinces of Wollo and Shewa, this well-researched work elucidates the importance of these territories in the creation of Ethiopia and the history of the Oromo. It casts the Oromo as Abyssinians and central in all aspects of modern Ethiopian life, while making a case for Ethiopia, a nation without a colonial legacy, as an example of indigenous African identity formation that challenges notions of "tribal" or ethnic identities.
Brian details the cultural practices that integrated the populations of the highlands into the Abyssinian group; in addition, he analyses the political structures that evolved concurrently. The book, notably, utilises a community-based framework to underscore the fluidity of modern national identity. All in all, the work offers a close study of Ethiopian modernisation policies and illuminates how Africans might have crafted their nations without the legacies of colonialism.
The book reframes the story of modern Ethiopia around the contributions of the Oromo people and the culturally fluid union of communities that shaped the nation's politics and society.
Brian J. Yates is an Associate Professor of History at Saint Joseph's University.
Please reserve your place soon to avoid disappointment.
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The Other Abyssinians - The Northern Oromo and the Creation of Modern Ethiopia, 1855-1913 by Brian J Yates Publisher: University of Rochester Press, January 2020 ISBN: 9781580469807 (hardback), UK RRP £95 ISBN: 9781787446533 (epdf), UK RRP £24.99 ISBN: 9781787449527 (epub), UK RRP £24.99 |