We’re Ethiopian Historians

Ethiopia has a rich and long history that has been the envy of many countries. At the same time, however, history has become a political battleground as contending political forces push their own version of history to the exclusion of others. The change of regime in 1991 ushered in a new era when the rights of thitherto oppressed and marginalised nationalities were given constitutional guarantees. The official rhetoric has since been attainment of “unity in diversity”. But, the accent has clearly been on diversity rather than on unity. As a result, the country has been rocked by inter-ethnic and inter-regional conflicts. A culture of “othering” has dominated both discourse and practice. Long-time residents in a region have been denied rights of residence or political representation in local governments. In many cases, they have been forced to leave or subjected to all forms of violence including massacre. This development has attained lethal dimensions since the outbreak of the war in northern Ethiopia in November 2020, posing a serious threat to the social fabric of the country.

The Association of Ethiopian Historians (AEH) has taken it as its responsibility to make its professional contribution to this initiative by addressing some of the critical issues that have hampered national consensus. While cognizant of the many injustices of the past, AEH feels that the problems that face the country have become so existential that it is time to bring out the commonalities whilst acknowledging the specificities of the experiences of diverse groups of Ethiopians. Already, on 24-25 May 2022, AEH organised a highly successful two-day workshop on the theme of “The Role of History in Building National Consensus”. Papers were presented on various aspects of historical research. The event was attended by high- level government officials and participants drawn from academia, civil society, professional associations, as well as prominent personalities and youth representatives. In view of the high pertinence of the workshop, it received fairly extensive media coverage.