Making Citizens in Africa

by Smith, Lahra

• ISBN13: 9781107610385
• ISBN10: 1107610389
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-05-20
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

Making Citizens in Africa argues that citizenship creation and expansion is a pivotal part of political contestation in Africa today. Citizenship is a powerful analytical tool with which to approach political life in contemporary Africa because the institutional and structural reforms of the past two decades have been inextricably linked with the battle over the "right to have rights." Professor Lahra Smith's work advances the notion of meaningful citizenship, which refers to the way in which rights are exercised, or the effective practice of citizenship. Using data from Ethiopia and developing a historically informed and empirically nuanced study of language policy and ethnicity and gender identities, this book analyzes the contestation over citizenship that engages the state, social movements, and individuals in substantive ways. By combining original data on language policy in contemporary Ethiopia with detailed historical study and an analytical focus on ethnicity, citizenship, and gender, this work not only brings a fresh approach to Ethiopian political development but also to contemporary citizenship concerns relevant to other parts of Africa.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Challenge: Unequal Citizenship:

Comparative perspectives on citizen-creation in Africa

The historical context for modern Ethiopian citizenship

The Response: The State and Its Citizens:

Popular responses to unequal citizenship

A referendum on ethnic identity and the claims of citizenship

No going back on self-determination for the Oromo

Ethiopian women and citizenship rights deferred

Conclusion

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