Marxist Modern: An Ethnographic History of the Ethiopian RevolutionModernity has become a keyword in a number of recent intellectual discussions. In this book, Donald L. Donham shows that similar debates have long occurred, particularly among peoples located on the margins of world power and wealth. Based on extensive fieldwork in Ethiopia—conducted over a twenty-year period—Marxist Modern provides a cultural history of the Ethiopian revolution that highlights the role of modernist ideas. Moving between the capital, Addis Ababa, and Maale, the home of a small ethnic group in the south, Donham constructs a narrative of upheaval and change, presenting local people's understandings of events, as these echoed with and appropriated stories of other world revolutions. With the help of poststructuralist insights and theories of narrative, Donham locates a recurrent dialectic between modernist Marxism, local Maale traditionalisms, and antimodernist, evangelical Christianity. One of the most consequential outcomes of this interaction—until the late 1980s—was the creation of a more powerful state, one that penetrated peasant communities ever more deeply and pervasively. Combining sophisticated theory with fascinating ethnographic detail, this study contributes to the theory of revolution as well as the study of modernity. In doing so, it seeks to integrate ethnography and history in a new way. |
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Contents
1974 | 13 |
Revolution as a Return to Tradition in Maale | 59 |
The Dialectic of Modernity in a North American | 82 |
The Cultural Construction of Conversion in Maale | 102 |
Afterword Afterward | 177 |
MAPS | 200 |
217 | |
Other editions - View all
Marxist Modern: An Ethnographic History of the Ethiopian Revolution Donald L. Donham Limited preview - 1999 |
Marxist Modern: An Ethnographic History of the Ethiopian Revolution Donald Lewis Donham No preview available - 1999 |
Common terms and phrases
Addis Ababa Addis Ababa University Africa Amhara areas arrested Artamu awraja Bako Bala became began believers Bible brother Bushkoro cadre Cambridge century chief of Bala church conversion cultural Danyi David Ottaway Derg Donald Dulbo early elders elite Emperor EPRP Ethiopian Revolution ethnic evangelical Christians Fargher father field notes governor groups Haile Selassie Ibid imperial International Archives Interview Irbano Irbo Jinka kati kingship Koibe Lambie Lambie's land reform landlords Lefort lived Maale chiefs Maale kings Maaleland Maja Makana Marina and David Marxism Marxism-Leninism Mengistu Haile Mariam Metanarrative Metanarrative of Modernity military missionaries modernist narrative nation northern officials organized Orthodox Christian Ottolo party peasant association political region religion revolutionary ritual Selassie's social soldiers Somalia southern Ethiopia Soviet Union Sudan Interior Mission Sulunge Taddesse Teferi tion Tolba Tonna took traditional traditionalists University Press Walamo Welaita evangelists woreda zemecha students Ziso