Rethinking political crises in the Horn of Africa : local approaches to the territorial border in Ethiopia's eastern borderlands
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Date
2014
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Abstract
Political crises are often more interconnected in the Horn of Africa than in other parts of the
continent. The region challenges established notions of statehood and the trajectory of
state formation in Africa. This paper argues that the Horn of Africa exhibits dynamic
processes of state formation that differ from those found elsewhere on the continent
because of the diverse meanings attached to territorial borders in the region. The paper
singles out Ethiopia as a case where these meanings can be observed and examined. The
paper traces how local actors in Ethiopia’s eastern borderlands along the border with
Somalia perceive and operationalise the border. The main argument of the paper is that the
border underlines the borderland identity of local populations and is also a source of their
livelihoods. However, this formulation occasionally challenges the relationship between the
borderlands and the Ethiopian state and between the latter and neighbouring countries.
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Keywords
Political crisis, Ethiopia, Territorial border, Horn of Africa, Border operational
Citation
Matshanda, N. T. (2014). Rethinking political crises in the Horn of Africa : local approaches to the territorial border in Ethiopia's eastern borderlands. African Renaissance,11(1),25-41