The terms of debate on the existence of Amhara ethnicity with a focus on the emerging Amhara ethno-nationalism

Abstract

ABSTRACT No other identity has been as debated as Amhara ethnicity is in post-1991 Ethiopia. The post-1991 Ethiopia staged the political and scholarly debate over whether or not Amhara exists as a distinct ethnic group. This article sheds light on the terms of the debate on the contested Amhara ethnicity, in its formulation both as an identity encapsulated within the Ethiopian national identity or a separate ethnic identity, with a focus on the ongoing Amhara ethno-national political mobilization. Data for the article is gleaned from a variety of sources, documents, opinions expressed in the broadcast, print, and social media platforms, and key informant interviews. The proponents of the former espouse Pan-Ethiopian nationalism and they reject the attribution of the Amharic language and its speakers to an ethnic category. It is part of the broader critic of ethnicity as a focus of social identity and unit of political participation which undermines national cohesion. Instead, Ethiopian national identity is promoted as a supra ethnic identity that ethnic groups need to integrate in to. While the latter argue in favor of Amhara ethnicity not only in the primordial sense of the term but also in the sense of reactive ethnicity as a result of othering which created deep-seated insecurity who have been vulnerable to attacks by other ethnic groups.