Ethiopia: Intellectual Genocide in the making? The Strong and Pervasive Evidence of Ethnic Inequalities

Journal Title: Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal - Year 2017, Vol 4, Issue 13

Abstract

Ethnic inequalities in all sectors of life in Ethiopia have increasingly become serious and pervasive. Access to higher education (including scholarship grants) and most sought after disciplines appear to be disproportionally distributed along the multitude of ethnic groups in the country. In this paper I argue that intellectual genocide is in the making in three different forms: (1) systematic discrimination against certain groups with regard to educational opportunities, higher education, and scholarship grants; (2) brain drain — the movement of intellectuals and young skilled Ethiopians that has increased under the Tigrean People’s Liberation Fronts (TPLF) regime. Some observers say that Ethiopia has become a substantial net exporter of academic talent, a so-called brain drain; (3) cultural genocide, the action of the system which has the aim or effect of dispossessing the people of their lands, territories or resources, cultural values, language, and historical/religious relics and heritages. The philosophical foundation/methodology that undergirds this study is critical theory with elements of poststructuralism and post colonialism. The strategies used to collate and collect data is meta-analysis (data synthesis), some form of discourse analysis, personal accounts, and a limited amount of sociological introspection. There are a number of reasons or mechanisms that lead from ethnicity to violence. My evidence shows that there are already some patterns and discourses that might precipitate or crystallize the mechanisms in Ethiopia. The study shows that it is high time to stop the madness and redress the chronic and pervasive disparities within and between groups. It is an imperative that we focus on our similarities and common destiny. “The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.” It is about Ethiopian people. It is just unacceptable to seek self-aggrandizement for ourselves—or for our specific ethnic group, and increase power and influence to draw attention to own importance—and forget about progress and prosperity for the multitudes of ethnic groups in Ethiopia. Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

Authors and Affiliations

Girma Berhanu

Keywords

Related Articles

Functional Peculiarities of Lexical Syntagm in Technical Writing

Admittedly, in the course of intellectual communication terms tend to be widely used for the expression of concepts and notions of a given branch of knowledge. The meaning or content of words used to express special phen...

Cognitive Tools of Management Consulting

The paper points out the challenges of management consulting in modern complex and unstable economic conditions. The authors emphasize the need for management consulting support tools that would be adequate to the hyper-...

Does Community-based Forestry Management Approach Improve the Livelihoods of Local People? A Case of Sal-forest area in Bangladesh

Community-based forest management (CBFM) approach has been implementing in the degraded Sal forest areas since 1989 with an aim to eliminate the main causes of forest depletion as well as alleviate poverty through partic...

Human Formation Of The Educator During A Pedagogy Undergraduate Course - Outcomes Of An Exploratory Research Study

This article is a result of an exploratory research study on the feasibility and comprehensiveness of the undergraduate course in Pedagogy promoting the human formation of the educator. The idea of human formation aims t...

Age Periods Of Human Life

In 2015, the World Health Organization under the United Nations officially revised the age standards. A person is now considered young before 44 years of age. According to the new age classification, the young age is fro...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP329845
  • DOI 10.14738/assrj.413.3459.
  • Views 48
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Girma Berhanu (2017). Ethiopia: Intellectual Genocide in the making? The Strong and Pervasive Evidence of Ethnic Inequalities. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 4(13), 133-165. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-329845