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Peasants and Revolution in Ethiopia : Tigray 1975-1989 / by John Young

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Peasants and Revolution in Ethiopia : Tigray 1975-1989 / by John Young PEASANTS AYD KE'I'OL5Tr'GN IN ETHIOPIA TTGMY !975 - i 989 John J'oung •’3 ,A . Simon Fraser Unn erst?. 1973 M X . Xlciilaster Unltersity. 1974 %IP A . Uniiers~t>of Victoria, 1982 THESIS SUBXfl'ITED IN PARTIAL FULFLLLMENT OF THE REQCIREXiENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PiiILOSOPHY In the Department of POLITICAL SCIENCE O John Young 1994 Sih4ON FRASER UNIVERSITY September 1994 A11 rights resensd. Tlus u.ork may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by phoiocop? or orher means. without permission of the author Nationa! Library Bibliotheque nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions an3 Direction des acquis~tionset Bib!iogiaphic Services Branch des services Sibliographiqiles THE AUTHOR HAS GRANTED AN L'AUTEUR A ACCORDE UNE LICENCE IRREVOCABLE NON-EXCLUSIVE IRREVOCABLE ET NON EXCLUSIVE LICENCE ALLOWING THE NATIONAL PElZMETTANT A LA BBLIOTHEQUE LIBRARY OF CANADA TO NATIONALE DU CANADA DE REPRODUCE, LOAN, Df STlUBUTE OR REPRODUIRE, PRETER, DISTRIBUER SELL COPIES OF HISMER TKESIS BY OU VENDRE DES COPIES DE SA ANY MEANS AND IN ANY FORM OR THESE DE QUELQUE MANEE E'f FOrnLAT, mTGTXIS mSIS SOUS QUELQUE FORhaE QUE CE SOI'I' AVAILABLE TO INTERESTED POUR METTRE DES EXEMPLAXRES DlJ PERSONS. CETTE THESE A LA DISPOSITlON DES PERSON INTERESSEES THE AUTHOR RETAINS OWNERSHIP L'AUTEUR CONSERVE LA PROPRIETI OF THE COPYRIGHT IN PIIS/HER DU DROIT D'AUTEUR QUI PROTEGE THESIS. NEITHER THE TMESIS NOR SA THESE. NI LA THESE NI DES SUBSTANTIAL EXTRACTS FROM IT EXTRAITS SUBSTANTIELS DE CELLE- MAY BE PRINTED OR OTHERWISE CI NE DOIWWT ETRlE IMPRIMES OU - REPRODUCED WITHOUT HIS/HER AUTREMENT REPRODUITS SANS SON PERMISSION. AUTORISATION. ISBN 0-612-06875-7 APPROVAL P<ame: loha Yowg Degree: Doctor of Philosophy under Special Arrangements Title of Thesis: Peasants and Revolution in Ethiopia: Tigray 1975 - 1989 Examining Committee: Chair: Phylljq Wrenn, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies - + Maureen Coveil, Senior Supervisor Professor cf Political,Science Abdulkarim H. Somjee Professor of Political Sciehce Michael Howard Professor of Sociology & Anthropology Gil$ ~ti&r Associate Professor of History A Roy ; pateman Professor of Political Science Robert Anderson \ Professor of Communication > Peter Koehn, External Examiner Professor of Political Science, University of Montana Date Approved: PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE t hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lund my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is showti below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make part iat or- single copies only for such users or in response to a request front the library of any other university, or other educationai institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. it is understood that copying or pubiication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. (name) J (date) The most influentid theoretics! explanation of revolutions in the past two decades has been provided by the school of moral economy. Critical to this theory are the assumptions that peasants play a key role in revolutions in the modern era and that they are moved to revolt because of unsettling changes in their economy and disruption to their relationships with one another and to their patrons caused by agricultural commercialization. Although recognizing that middle class intellectuals usually lead these revolutions and that the revolutions do not necessarily produce conditions favourable to the peasants, moral economists nonetheless largely confine their research to the peasant economy and in their explanations discount the part played by conditions in the towns or wider political factors . This case study of revolution in the Ethiopian province of Tigray between 1975 and 1989 provides a basis to re-evaluate moral economy theory. The revolution examined here began when a small band of intellectuals who called themselves the Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) launched a rural insurrection for Tigrayan national self- determination in 1975 from their poor and underdeveloped province against the military regime that had assumed power after the overthrow of Emperor Haile-Selassie the year before. In 1989 the rebels swept government forces from the province and two years later they formed the national government in Addis Ababa. Because of the almost complete absence of secondary sources, the research pursuant to this dissertation has been largely based on material collected and generated by the author in Ethiopia between October 1992 and July 1993. Although primary written materials, drawn mostly from press reports and political party journals, have been utilized, the research has relied on some two hundred interviews, mostly of peasants and party activists of the TPLF. In contrast to the conclusions of moral economy theory, this study will demonstrate that although a collapsing rural economy was an important underlying facior in the Tigrayan revolution, the peasants did not oppose markets and commercial agriculture; nor did they object to the break up of the feudal economy and the destruction of patron-client relationships. In spite of their destitution, most peasants did not initially join the struggle of the intellectuals who instead had to depend on support from people in the towns. Moreover, contrary to the emphasis placed by moral economists on economic factors in explaining revolution, this study found that peasant commitment to armed struggle was also stimulated by a number of political factors, including the policies of the military government, the peasants' Tigrayan nationalism, and the political leadership of the TPLF. ... Ill DEDICATION To the peasar?ts of Tigray in the hope that their future n4l ke better invariably in a research pmject of this nature there are many people ~CJiliiiiik, and organizations to acknowledge, and only a few can be mentioned here. I am particularly appreciative of the efforts of my wife, Dorothea, who accompanied me to Ethiopia, assisted in the peasant interviews, proof read various drafts of the thesis and translated parts of a German book used in the study. My dissertation committee, led by my senior supervisor, Dr. Matrreen Covel1, and including Professors Michael Howard, Roy Pateman, A.H. Somjee and Philip Stigger have availed me of their time, guidance and perspectives. For this f am most grateful. There are far too many Ethiopians that have been of enormous help to thank even a fraction of them Nonetheless, note must be made of the ever obliging faculty of the College of Social Sciences at Addis Ababa University, and particularly to the Political Science and International Relations Department to which I was assigned to carry out my research. Gebru Asrat and Haile Kiros, both of the TPLF, must be singled out for their assistance Lastly, this research would not have been possible but for hnding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for the two year period 1992 - 1994. TAnTF#'%FP I .aaLc UP LONTENTS ... ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... 111 DEDICATION ..................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... \ti .. LIST OF MAPS ......................................................................................................... VII ... ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................... VIII PREFACE ................................................................................................................. is NOTES ................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODIJCTION .............................................................................. 1 Scope and Purpose .......................................................................................... 1 Research Environment .................................................................................... 4 Written Materials ............................................................................................. 7 Media and the War ........................................................................................... 15 Interview Based Research ...............................................................................18 . Interviews in Tigray ........................................................................................ 23 Chapter Outline ................................................................................................32 CHAPTER 2: THE THEORETICAL, FRAMEWORK ............................................... 37 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 37 Peasant Classes and Revolution ........................................................................42 Agricultural Commercialization ....................................................................... SO Factors Outside the Peasantry .......................................................................... 56 Regime Stimulus for Revolt ............................................................................
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