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ACADEMIC PUBLIC INTELLECTUALS’ LIVES: NEGOTIATING THE BORDERLINES by ASHENAFI ALEMU ABOYE B.A., Addis Ababa University, 2004 M.A., Addis Ababa University, 2011 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Educational Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April, 2019 © Ashenafi Alemu Aboye, 2019 The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Academic public in- tellectuals’ lives: Negotiating the borderlines Submitted by Ashenafi Alemu Aboye in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies Examining Committee: Professor Amy Scott Metcalfe _____________________________________________________________ Supervisor Professor Marlene Asselin _____________________________________________________________ Supervisory Committee Member Professor Samuel Rocha _____________________________________________________________ Supervisory Committee Member Professor Handel Wright _____________________________________________________________ University Examiner Professor Teresa Dobson _______________________________________________________________ University Examiner ii Abstract This study presents the life stories of four selected Ethiopian public intellectuals among the diaspora. The overall study is presented in a form of fictionalized narrative based on the en- tire life experiences of the intellectuals. It is framed using the political economy of Ethiopian higher education as its context. Using fictionalized narratives in educational research is a rela- tively recent phenomenon. In the larger debate of the fact-fiction distinction (Brockmeier, 2013), the notion of panfictionality suggests that it is hardly possible to draw a hard and fast dividing line between representations that are labeled as fact and fiction (Brockmeier, 2013). This allows for the possibility of presenting real-life stories in a form of fiction. The intellectuals in this study are selected because they had worked in the academy in Ethiopia, are currently employed in a tenure-track position in North America, and are engaged in addressing the public both as an aca- demic as well as public figure. They were asked to participate in the life story interviews which are informed by the notions of public intellectuals and Jakobson’s (2012) symmetric- criticality framework. Interview transcripts were sent back to the participants for accuracy and validity. The author’s subjectivity, positionality, and other ethical issues are addressed to meet institutional requirements. The fictionalized characters narrate stories related to academic free- dom, public intellectualism, and speech and silence. They narrate vibrant stories. They tell their stories and speak out about issues that matter to them. !iii Lay Summary This study presents the stories of four selected Ethiopian intellectuals in North America. The intellectuals are selected because they had worked in the academy in Ethiopia, are currently employed as academics in North America, are engaged in speaking for the people. To collect their stories, the researcher used life story interviews. The researcher sent the written versions of the interviews back to the participants to check its accuracy, and presentation of the stories as told by themselves. The researcher used the historical contexts of the time the intellectuals lived in Ethiopia and the development of higher education in the country as a context to the story. The researcher’s world views, experiences, and perspectives are acknowledged in this work. The re- searcher observed all institutional requirements and procedures that are deemed necessary to en- sure the ethical conduct of the research. The fictionalized characters narrate vibrant stories and their inevitable memories from their past. They reflect on diverse interrelated academic and po- litical issues throughout the story. !iv Preface This dissertation is original, unpublished, and independent work by the author. UBC’s Behavioral Research Ethics Board (BREB) provided ethical clearance for this study (approval certificate number: H16-02350). !v Table of Contents Abstract .........................................................................................................................................iii Lay summary ................................................................................................................................iv Preface ............................................................................................................................................v Table of contents ...........................................................................................................................vi List of figures ................................................................................................................................ix Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................x Dedication ...................................................................................................................................xiii Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study .........................................................................................1 1.1 Background to the topic .................................................................................................1 1.2 Research Purpose and Questions ...................................................................................4 1.3 Research Context ...........................................................................................................8 1.4 Limitations .....................................................................................................................8 1.5 A Note on Subjectivity ...................................................................................................8 1.6 Researcher’s Positionality ............................................................................................11 1.7 Overview of the Dissertation .......................................................................................13 Chapter 2: Conceptualizing the “intellectual” .........................................................................16 2.1 Intellectual: Meaning, Origin, and Role .....................................................................16 2.2 Public Intellectual: A Sub Category? ...........................................................................22 2.2.1 The “public” in public intellectual .........................................................................23 2.2.2 The role of public intellectuals............................................................................... 26 2.3 Public Intellectuals and Public Language ...................................................................28 2.4 The ‘Declinist’ Narrative.............................................................................................. 32 2.5 Public Intellectualism and Academic Freedom ............................................................36 2.6 Summary .....................................................................................................................44 Chapter 3: The Political Economy of Higher Education in Ethiopia ..................................47 3.1 Conceptualizing Knowledge Production .....................................................................48 3.2 ‘Glonacal' Patterns of Knowledge Production ............................................................49 !vi 3.2.1 The Political Economy of Knowledge Production in Ethiopia ...........................53 3.2.1.1 The monarchical regime (1930- 1974) .........................................................55 A. Physical expansion ................................................................................................56 B. Enrolment of students ............................................................................................57 C. University governance, academic freedom, and knowledge production ...............57 3.2.1.2. The socialist (Derg) regime (1974-1991) ....................................................63 A. Physical expansion ................................................................................................63 B. Enrolment of students ............................................................................................64 C. University governance, academic freedom, and knowledge production ..............65 3.2.1.3 The revolutionary-democratic regime (1991 to present) ............................68 A. Physical expansion ................................................................................................69 B. Enrolment of students ............................................................................................72 C. University governance, academic freedom, and knowledge production ..............75 3.3 Summary ......................................................................................................................80 Chapter 4: Narratology in Educational Research: A Focus on Panfictionality .....................84 4.1 Inter-disciplinarity in Narratology and Educational Studies Research .........................84 4.2 Panfictionality as the Epicentre ....................................................................................89