A new generation of Ethiopianists: the Universal Ethiopian Students Association and The African: Journal of African Affairs, 1937–1948

Abstract

This paper explores the obscure Universal Ethiopian Student Association (UESA) and the journal that began as their organ, The African: Journal of African Affairs (1937–1948), as an example of modern Ethiopianism. It analyzes The African for clues about what the UESA was, who was involved, who it purported to speak for and to, and the kinds of cross-metropole (and metropole-colony) networks and associations it fostered. The author asserts that unlike many similar political and student organizations of the time, the UESA represents a new generation of Ethiopianists: African nationalists in the traditional sense, committed to the nascent decolonization and pan-african political movements of the era. They also supported Ethiopia and Haile Selassie I at almost all costs, championing both the nationalist and imperialist nature of the modern Ethiopian state in the name of preserving its political sovereignty and role as a leader in Africa and the black world.