Oscillating Imaginaries: War, Peace, and the Precarious Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia

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Amanda Poole
Jennifer Ann Riggan

Abstract

While the 2018 peace declaration between Ethiopia and Eritrea was widely celebrated, Eritrean refugees expressed concern that peace would be destabilising, and their status in Ethiopia would change. Their concerns were shaped by a long history of oscillating imaginaries of how Eritrea “fits” with Ethiopia. Drawing from historical analysis and ethnographic fieldwork leading up to the peace agreement, we explore how these oscillating imaginaries create an uncomfortable and unstable situation for Eritreans in Ethiopia, rendering refugees vulnerable to unpredictable violence. Better understanding the way identity categories have been subject to constant slippage and have been instrumentalised by political elites could help to forge a more peaceful future among Ethiopia’s nationalities and between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

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How to Cite
Poole, A., & Riggan, J. A. (2022). Oscillating Imaginaries: War, Peace, and the Precarious Relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society, 10(1), 33–60. https://doi.org/10.26806/modafr.v10i1.413
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Articles
Author Biographies

Amanda Poole, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, United States of America

She is Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA. She is an environmental anthropologist with expertise in rural development, forced migration, and refugee policy. She has published in Human Organization, Journal of Peasant Studies, Anthropological Quarterly, Africa Today, Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, and in edited volumes. Along with Jennifer Riggan, she is the author of The Hosting State and its Restless Guests: Time-Making, Mobility and Containment among Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia.

Jennifer Ann Riggan, Arcadia University, United States of America

She is Professor of International Studies at Arcadia University in Pennsylvania and the current Frank and Evelyn Steinbrucker Endowed Chair. She is the author of The Struggling State: Nationalism, Mass Militarization and the Education of Eritrea (Temple University Press, 2016). Along with Amanda Poole she is the author of The Hosting State and its Restless Guests: Time-Making, Mobility and Containment among Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia. She has held fellowships from the Wolf Humanities Center (2020–21), The 167 Georg Arnhold Program (2019), Fulbright (Addis Ababa University 2016–17 & Asmara university 2004–5), The Spencer Foundation/ National Academy of Education (2012–14) and the Social Science Research Council (2004–5).