Mereja.Forum

[Za-Ilmaknun]

"As political space has opened up under Abiy, the preference given to group rights in the constitution has grown increasingly problematic. An emphasis on group rights, especially given the founding presupposition of “historical injustice” between those groups, sets up an inherently oppositional framework. In this system, a call for rights is zero-sum, necessarily taken at the expense of another group.

At the moment, ethnic groups are increasingly paying attention to their own rights and affairs, largely ignoring the prospects of others. Ethno-nationalism inflates ethnic identity and downplays Ethiopian identity, sometimes leading to the persecution of minorities, or those perceived as ‘other’, within the ethnically allotted areas.

Strong rule can seem appealing when people seek to actualize their rights at others’ expense. When rights are taken rather than mutually gifted through the social contract, social and political outlooks become zero-sum, embodied in the doomed expression, “It’s our time to eat.” When the achievement of rights is seen as emancipation from instead of enfranchisement for, the granting of rights leads to the individual pursuit of power rather than collective collaboration for societal flourishing. This leads nowhere except fragmentation and collapse.

An emphasis on rights may constrain the power of the State and prevent the government from encroachment. But what is to prevent people from violating the rights of their neighbors once the power of the government has been limited?

The current focus on rights draws attention to the differences between peoples in Ethiopia—as seen in the current fierce debate over historical narratives. Scholars neutral in the historical debate see Ethiopic cultures as belonging together—not because of shared ethnic lineage or political conquest, but because of all that is shared historically and culturally between the diverse array of peoples contained within the current borders.

https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2020/1 ... -ethiopia/