When: Wednesday March 14, 11:15-12:00
Where: Centre for Sami Studies, Guovssu, TEO H2.228
Abstract
In this presentation, I use the concept of high-modernist developmentalism to explain the discourses and practices states use in expropriating the territories of indigenous communities. High-modernism, as a political and ideological orientation focusing on the salience of technological advancement, centralized planning, and expert and scientific knowledge entails reengineering of nature and society. I also make a nexus between high-modernist development discourses and the notions of frontier dynamics, and how such discourses enhance resource appropriation, dispossession and displacement of indigenous communities in Ethiopia’s pastoralist frontiers. The notion of frontier represent political and geographical project in portraying some spaces politically vacuum, demographically vacant/empty but full of resources. Such conceptualization of, mainly pastoralist territories, is often used as legitimation of appropriating the resources in the name of development. In Ethiopia, narratives of “improving” the life of the local people and developing the economy of the country are used as justification for the government’s leasing out of land to foreign and domestic investors. The presentation touches upon three cases of land appropriation from southern Ethiopia whereby mining, cotton plantations and sugarcane projects have resulted in displacement of thousands of indigenous communities.
Asebe Regassa Debelo
Dr. Debelo is an alumnus of Master's program in Indigenous Studies at the University of Tromso (2005-2007), and did his PhD at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. Upon completing his Master’s program from Tromso in 2007, he took the initiative of establishing institute of Indigenous Studies at Dilla University, Ethiopia, where he is currently working as researcher. In addition to his research engagements in the institute, Dr. Debelo is serving as Director of Research and Dissemination office, Dilla University, since February 2017. Dr. Debelo’s research interest includes indigenous people’s right to resources, large-scale development projects and impacts on indigenous peoples, nature-culture relations and peace building with specific geographical area on Eastern Africa.