University of Dayton

eCommons
Philosophy Faculty Publications Department of Philosophy

2008

Radicalism and Cultural Dislocation in Ethiopia,

1960-1974
Messay Kebede
University of Dayton, [email protected]

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Kebede, Messay, "Radicalism and Cultural Dislocation in Ethiopia, 1960-1974" (2008). Philosophy Faculty Publications. Paper 112.
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 1

The Rise of Student

Radicalism in Ethiopia

As in Russia, China, Cuba, and elsewhere, students and intellccnmls have

been the carriers of revolutionary ideology in Eth io pia. By all accounts, by
the lllid-lg6os Haile Selassie I University had become the CC IHer ora stu-
dent movement that was r;lpidly gathering momentum toward extreme
forms of political activism. The African sch olar Ali A. Mazrui, who gave a
wlk to the student body in December 1973, characterized Ethiopian stu-
dents as "the most radical African sllIdents [he] had ever addressed."1 Any
study of the ca uses of the Ethiopian Revolution must, the refore, begin by
establishing th e factors thalled to the progressive radicalization of Ethiopian
stude nts and intellectuals. One basic reason the elabonllion and imple-
menLation of a refonnist agenda was prevented, at lhe c rudal mom e nt
when the imperial regime became weak enough to accept th e necessity of
se rious reforms, was undoubtedly the stron g opposition of sllIdents and
intellectuals, who were committed to nothing less than Marxist-Leninist
socia lism .
Conditions favonlblc to reformist solutions had indeed emerged when in
February 1974, following social and mililary protesL~, Haile Selassie dismissed
the old cabinet anel nominated Endalkalchew Makonnen as the new prime
rlIiniste1: Th e lauer fanned a new cabinet and promised changes, including
a land reform proposal. The nomination of Endalkatchew confirms that
Ilaile Sclassie had finally understood the necessity of reform s.~ U nl"ortunate
for the possibility of Illaking reforms, th e military overthrew lhe new prime
minister under th e pretext of appeasing the continuous protests of swdcnts
against hi~n. Th e protests were ultimately ideologically driven, as evidenced ,
for instance, when "on March I I (1974), thousands 01" students demon-
strated, and burn ed Ih e effigy of Prime Minister Endalkalcllew Makonnen.
For the first time, they openly called for the formation of a ' People's
Government.' ,,~
 The /lisr of Student RfUlim{i.rm ill Etliio/Jia 9

Factors of Student Rad ica lizat ion

Studies analyzing the causes of studenl activism abound . To limit ourselves
~o those dealing wi th studen t movements in third world coun tries, activism
IS generally attri buted to social as we ll as psychological and intd1t::ctual fac-
tors. Man}' studies even recognize protest as an established functio n of stu-
dents in transitio nal societies. As Seymou r M. Lipset notes, "In the
underdeveloped countries, university studenL~ do not j llst prepare them-
selves for futu re roles in public life; they playa significa nt pan in the politi-
cal life of the ir countries even during their studen t period."' The reasons for
t!le high level of Slude\1l activism in the developing world are not hard to
hnd: the wea kness of the midd le class, Ihe absence of represen tative gov-
ernments, bans 011 po litical panics a nd freedom of expression, and the use
of re pressive methods of government concur in making students "the bear-
ers of public opinion ."·1 In developed coun tries, students need not become
the voice of the people, given that the practice o f democracy allows panics
a nd groups such as labor unions to express social prot.ests and fig ht for
r~ rorms. Studen t demonstrations, no dOllbt freq uent in developed coun-
tnes, often reOect dissident pos itions that political parties arc reluctant to
support.
According to ma ny scholars, one facto r that encourages the politicization
of stude nts is the special treatment that un iversities usually rece ive from
third world govemments. While such govern me n ts a re qu ick to re press labor
unions and political parties, they typicall}' La ke "a permissive altitude toward
s.lUdent values and auivityM b}' gr,llIting a relative autono my 10 their institu-
liOns of higher education. 5 A number of reasons expla in this special treat-
lllent. First, so long as student proteSL'i remain confined to campuses a nd do
nOt spill over into olher social sectors, dicta torial governments sec no seri-
Ous threat to th eir power. Studen ts can neither paralyze the econom ic life of
the COUlltry nor constitut.e an insurrectional force able to remove a gove rn-
nJent. Second, the embedded lin k between academic freedom a nd highe r
e.d.tlciltion does not allow a purely repressive po liC}': short of closing univer-
SitIes, govern men ts have no direct wa}' to shield swdents from critical ideas.
Third, governments acquire a bad repuullion when the}' crack down on uni-
versities. It is as th ough they come lip against tIle advancClnen t of knowledge
a. nd free researc h, not to mcn tion the damage inflicted to the national pres-
ltge, which is oflen symbolized o}' the erection of a su m ptuous university
alllid urban destitution. Eve n dictatorial regimes resent being perceived as
°pponenls of enligh tenme nt.
No less conducive to political activism is cam pus life itself. That a large
nUll1ber of students find themselves "at one location , with similar intercsts,
and sllbjectto similar stimuli from the environment gives a powerliL1 impe-
tus to organ izational ilctivities of all kinds. MG Indeed, lhc concen tration of a
•
 10ThI' Risl' oj SIII/Ieni Hat/im{ism ill Ethiopia

large number of students in a relatively isohucd location makes comnHlIli-

calion easy, and so fosters organizational schemes. Ideas spread rapidly and
without expensh'e means, as it is easy 10 dislribute leaflets and organize
meetings. What is more, the fact of living together in a sedudcd environ-
ment devdops a spirit of solidarity thaI results in lhe adoption or common
attitudes to external stimuli. We cannot cmphasize enough the impact ohhe
development of common aujtudes. In addition to creating "i! more cohesive
community from which to recruit membcrs,~ the spirit of solidarity drives
the Imyority ofsilldenls to support the initiatives or the views ofa minority,
even if Ihey do not individually subscribe to them. 7 A further reason the
tn,yority tends to follow Ihe lead of minority groups is that campus lifc
Illeans emancipation from p,u'cntal authority. The remoteness of parents
creates a void of authority lilal exposes many students w peer influence,
especially that of sen ior students. T he development of soliclaristic altitudes
thus greatly benefhs organized alld aClive groups: it fac ilitates recruitmcnt,
jusl as it tends to prompt lhe alignment of the lll,yority to the views of activist
studen ls.
Scholars of swdcn t politics readily connect the tendency to radicaliz. ation
wilh the very characteristics of youth. Since '"hope and idealism tend to be
more a feature of yo lith than of age," radicalization and the very idea of rev-
olution resonate with youth. 1I Unlike older people, who tend to hold mod-
erate or conservative views, the young a re gene r'ally allracled by
magnanimous ideas. They are especially more sensitive to the suffering of
the poor and the lack ofjuslice than any other age group. Aristot le codified
the contnlst be tween youth and o ld age. He found th at the young have
strong passions and are hot-tempered; Ibey are also generous and trustful as
well as courageous and open to noble idea ls. By contrast, "the character of
Elderly Men-men who are past their prime-may be said to be funned for
the 1lI0st part of clements that arc the contrar), of all these.~9 Likewise.
unlike older people, the lessons of experience, to wi t, harsh realities dashing
generous aspirations, have not yet hardened the young. While old people
arc wiser, young people have ret to learn how little realit)'and idealism make
good company. The lack o f such responsibilities as maki ng a living and ntis--
ing a family fu rl her assists the idealism of yo 11th. 1lavi ng not yet developed a
vested interest in the social syslCm, they can be easily fired up by revolution-
at)' ideas, j ust as IlleY can afford the risks of political activism.
Many authors have emphasized how the exposu re of third worl d stude nts
to Wcstem ed ucalion greatly exacerbales the natural tendency of the young
to assert Iheir independence by defying existi ng authori ties, especially
parental authOl·ity. While in developed countries the young anrltheir parents
share more or less the s.'lllle culture, in transitional societies the assimilation
of modern educalion induces the young nOl only to adopt alien val ues but
also 10 have contempt for traditions 10 which their parenls arc still aUitched.
 'nil'! Niu: 11SIIllIl!"l l(llllimli~1II ill flliiQ/Jifl II

Thi'i cuhural dissociation gives gencnllional connicl such an acute and dis-
trcssi ng fonn Ihat it pushcs thc young toward rcvolutionary ideologies, F'or
wh:H else could benef express their aggr;l\m cd re bellion than the adoption
of Ideas thaI radically qucstion the tmditio nal socie ty of their parelUs?
That is why Lewis S. Feller insists that yomh idealism is not cnough to
cxplain the nldicalization of student rnove111cnK A thorough ex planation
r,eC]uin:s til(' addition of a nother motivation, namely. the co nnic t of gel1em.
liOn s, ''Th e distinctive c hamcle r ofstuc1cllt move mcll ts arise~ from the lillian
in lhe rn of motives ofyomhful love, onthc one haml , and those springing
frail! th e conl liet of gene mtions on the otller," he says,lO While e nthllsiasm,
generosity, ~cl f:.sac ri£i ce-in a word, idealism-arc fealun.os of a disti lit! bio-
logical stage, gellcmtional conOicts add the social component neccss;u}, to
dctol1ate the idea list impulse.
CI~Ulted the importance of sociops)'cho logical, academic, and biological
~aClors, the stud), of student radicali .....'llion must nOl lose sight of the decisive
Hnpac t of social disC(ln1Cnt. C',ollllllitm e nt to a 1~ldical c hange of the sociill
~YS telU is not intclligible outside the heavy presence ufsocial problems, Even
If We Concede Ihal mdical groups are bound to appear regardless of the per-
~o~'nlances of governm e nts, sllc h groups remain isolated without the dissat-
IslaClion of th e m;~oril)' of sllIdents with exisling conditions of lire, For
~n sta n cc, whatever be the part played by cultural crises, youth radicalil:ltioll
In the Uni ted States and France during the laI C I 960s 1I'0ulclnot have had
the SCope il had without t,he IV<'\" ill Victll<\lll and Fmncc's educational crisis.
For radical gro ups to grow and assume the leade r'ihip of student move-
lllents, the di'ialTcction of the m:tiority of the Slilden! bod)' i~ a necessa l}' pre-
Condition,
Equally lrue is the understanding that , no mattei' how gl~l\'C social ])1'01>-
[ems arc, radicalism is ulllhinkable \V'ithollt cu ltlll~11 dissension, \-\fheH the
ISSue is to explain the predilection or swdents for radical changes, and not
th eir Ille re involvemcnt in politics, the :uxument according to which Ihe
gl~l\'it}' of [he social problems dictates the option fo r radical ideolob'Y docs
no~ look convinCing. It presupposes a type of determinism that a mOllnts to
saYIng that the more acute th e social problems, thc greatcr the need 1'01' rev-
O!Utional}' Changes. Unfortunately, impOl'lant exceptions challenge this
klild of assenion, Though social systems burde ned wilh acme social prob-
le~11s prOliferate ill the world , revol utions al'e 1~ll'e occurrences, Thke the case
01 Indian studcnlS:

a hhQugh lhe unive rs ity student I>opul.uiou wa.~ [he mOSI turbulent in the world,
the ~tll{lcnt mdicals do 1I0t as a rule make thc s[ructurcs of the largcr society aud
of thc univcrsity obj<:cts of a gc nc ra l critiquc, Indian swdcllt mdicOils dcclarc no
fUII(i;ulIclltal criticism of their .society: they h,II'(' no schcllI(,.'!j 1'01' Ihc r'("'Constnlclion
of thei l' unil'c r'iities, T hey do tak(' stands Oil public issucs. , . , The l1\di;1I1 stu(lcnt
12 Till' m,w afStudcllt /{mlira{islI/ in Ethiopia

agitation is "OCGlSionalist"; it r~p(}llds 10 particular stimuli . 101.""1. region;:l!. 01' national.

but. gricv.mccs do not become gencmli7,cd and lIrc lherefore no t pcrsisten l. II

Given that extremc levels of poverty, further t'igidified by the caste system,
phlgued India, a social silllation more conducive to arouse indignalion
could hardly b e imagined, especia lly among people ex p osed to mOdel'll
ideas, Nonetheless, the highly muddled condition only prOVOked tUI'bu!enl
protests that, however inlense a nd repClitive they may have been, fell short
of dcveloping a systcmatic o pposition to the social systelll. still less of
cmbracing a reconstructive intenl. In light of the strong conduc iveness of
thc social cond itions, what c lse could explain the lack ofau,raction of Indian
stude nts to radical ideologies but the resistance cmanating from the cultura l
sphere? The point is thai 1 ~l{lian students did not d evelop a Scnse of alien-
ation from their culture and Ir'adition, Accordingly, they pro tested 1'01' What
needed 10 be fixed or reformed without, howt:vcr. harboring a PI'oject of
total c hange,
To slim up , cullural faclors as mllch as social conditio ns al'e ncccssal
loster ril( tca "Ism. S latements asslglllng " "t<l( ' Ica
"Ism t:xc uSlve' ,y to s tl'Uctl! -y 'l OI
condilions " reflect iI d e term inistic view that excludes the input of diffe ' ~ a
, , ' T '1(: overemp ,lastS
ell lllra ( ISposlttons. ' on Slruc tunl 'con(
" tUons
. fO I'gelS lent I.
" '"
socm con "" ' " , ,'r.
'" tCIS usua yl n\'o ve compe tin g e ticS wll I SpCChlC agendas't t<ltI
goa ls, According to C h arles Tilly, morc than the antagonism b etwe <11,"
, '
I'll mg ci" te ant, t "le masscs, W 1at c reates a rcvoluuonal1' ,
Sllll<\ltOn is the n' tlC
flkt" between aspi l'i ng clites with dissident con victions and interests a e ,co n -
eSl<l) "tS le{' " c tlc. R' ,
eJcctmg tI, e prunacy
' t'
lal"lleones 0 f rcvo , lItion < n( , the
M arX " 'ISIll aneI tI tlCOI), a "
1(;I "'
re auve "
(cpnvaUon , <lccord ' elise
to SOCIal .SllClas ~
-,-""
I y Sse ,100,r, 0 t lOUg " 1l nghtly emp "lilSlzes the impact 0 r e "tl(: cOn OiOntent , '
, , l ,H\I " can n'ICt among gove rnme nt..<; an(, vanous
l11all11.'1Ins . ot'gani~ed
C1$. H e
'
conte n c Il1g ror power mllst be placed at the center of' attention , to g .IOu ,,, '
collective " viol(:nce and rcvolutions,"t~ exphttn
A,> ex pressions or po litieal conllicts, ideologies do not si mpl y CI'Op
stnlc tUl<l1 conditions; they a rc slnllegies by which particul~\t' intcl.~~),frOlll
beliefs COlnpetc for hegemony, It is not tI'.'t the situation l'eqtlirc~st.s <~n el
sollllions: rmhe r, radical solutions are nccessal'y to enth rone SpeC:i~ ta(~lCal
The essCllIial vit'tue of thc radie'll ideology that is supposed to elll a .1 el Ites,
structunll conditions is not simply to resolve social prOb l en~st,la,tc : rO I11
empower dites that have g rown culturally sectaria n or tmorthOdox', ~t ts to
of their eccentric goals and V'.tllles, such contenders do not fit in th ~ ,CC<ltlse
hO\vcver altered or rerormed it may be, Po litical rivalries involvin c sYS tc m .
dox elites gencl, u e the conditions of social revolutions, What de~ hC tc l'O-
case of India is precisely th e nonemergence or cu lturally mal'gi n " , ', tncs the
- '. , , , < I'-cel I'
The Etilloptan Situat.lon . on the ot her hand, set forth a pOlitical C It~s,
between a traditional aristocracy and a n eciuc<1led e lite that, On to con Olct
P Of."
,~ lOW_
 '11111 Rise oj Sludnll lltl(fiwlislII hI Elhiopia 13

ing discon lt:n lover the socioeconomic direction of the coumry, had become
Cultura lly alien.

Radica liz ing Factors of Imperial Ethiopia

:rhe fac tors that rad icalized swdenlS in other countrics were quitc manifest
III pre revolutionary Ethiopia. Thus, the birthplace and center of thc
Ethi o pian sllldclll movemelll was the secluded and relatively autonomous
campus of the then Haile Sela.s.sie I Universi ty. The supprcssion of freedom
of expression and association by Hai le Se lassic's autocratic rule had turned
the student move me nt into a re pn;sentativc of public o pinion. Compared to
other sectors of Ethiopian socicty, the universi ty was a secluded place in
which stude nL'> had gained-after a biuer struggle, it is true - the righ t to
create their OWlJ association , to hold mee tings, and to have the ir own publ i-
ci.ltions. Though such righlS were precarious a nd subject to con fiscatio n
eac h time studenlS concretely c ha lle nged the regime, they were neve rtheless
specia l trealnlenlS compared to the complete silenci ng of the rest of the
Country. Suc h r igh ts, howe\'e r shaky, were no doubt helpful both in facilitlll-
ing the spread of radical ideas and ge nerating a sense of solidarity among
studen lS. Moreover, as Haile Selassie was espec ially keen to give the image of
a benevolent and modernizing monarch to VI/estern gove rnme nlS and
observers, he never launched lhe full ex te n t of his repressive power against
studenlS, even whe n lhey d irectly antagonized him. ~
As elsewhere in third world countries, the lea rning process in Ethiopia
had a deep al ienating efrect. Thoug h Haile Selassie rc\ied mostly on expa-
triate le aching staff of clerical extnlc tion to te mper the alienation, especially
on J esuit professors who could not be accllsed of sympathy for c ritical ideas,
the ve l"}' fact that the curricu la and m cthods of teaching were sq uarely mod-
eled on America n universities exposed students to ideas and values that were
o n a coll ision course with the autocnHic regime. What is more, instead o f dis-
cussi ng and critically e valuating th e mdical ideas of Marxist-Lenin ist lile ra-
turc, most of the teaching staff sim ply ignored them. This academic
censol1;hip colored Marxism-Leninism with th e attraction of the forbidd e n
frui t.
The undermining efrect of modern e dllcation was a ll [he more corrosive
th e more lhe regi me seem ed saddle d with an inlier contr.. dietion: the need
to main Lain tmditio nal authority and oligarc hic interests clashed wilh the
image of a comm itted m od e rnizer that th e e m peror projected of himself.
The huge gap between the official discourse and the real ity pointed to a
blocked sodety in need of a radical reshaping. Thoug h the modernist dis-
course of the regime gave prominence to Lhe e merging ed ucated elite, lh e
politica l system exclusivc\y pro tec ted the illle rcsLS of a n outdated landed
•

..
I t\ The /tis" of Slutirnl flm{j((j{islll ill 1::lhio/,ill

class. To Illally educated people, the system offered no other way out than
omriglllrcbell ion.
III their attempt to decipher the causes of the radicalization or Ethiopian
students, m.IIlY scholars have ove rstressed. understandably, the impact of
structural con d itions. The economic failures or the regime lcd, they say, to
the progressive d isillusionment o f studen ts and in te lleclll<Ils. This disilllt~
siolllnent took a radical turn when ill the late 1960s and early I970S acute
economic crises affecLCd all seClOl'S of Eth iopi;m society, including un i\'crsity
graduates, who suddenly found themselves threatened by unem ployment.
The economic hardships reached thei r peak with soaring innation when in
1973 OPEC quadrupled the price of oil. In thc eyes of most scholars, espe-
cially those using Marxist melho((olob')', the frLLstnllion o\'e r these economic
woes explains, for the most part, the radicalization of Ethiopian students.
FOI' inSl.;\nce, o ne student of the movemen t writes, MThe prospect o r tLnem~
ployment shaucred the aspirations of' the younger generat ion of the intelli-
gentsia. lead ing to a rapid spread of l'<ld icalism among the slllclenLS.~t~ Let
liS review somc rc presen ta tive !icholars of this dominan t. trcn d.

The Evolut ionary App ronch

To account 1'01' the rndicalization of lh e Ethiopian studelt t movement, the
Ethiopian historian Bahru Zewde suggests an evolutionary approach. T Ile I'<ld~
icalization rcllected, he wdtes. "gl'Owing im patience with a rcgime which was
not prepared to reform iLSelf. As the cen tury wore on, lhe medicine prescri bed
also grew in virulence."I-1 vVh ile the eady intelleclUals adopted a reformist
staltd, tho!ic of the sixties and carl)' seventies turned rcvolutionary because the
delay of reforms exacerbatcd the social problems and induced the belief tha t
the rcgime ' ....IS completely reSiSlalll to the idea of even moderate reforms.
With the loss of hope, there grew the conviction thatlhe in itiation o f neces-
sary changes requ ired noth ing less than the total removal of the regime. Some
such awareness p repared the ground for the adoption of Marx ist-Lcninist for-
mulas, all the more so as the long postponement of rcfonllS so aggrav.Jted the
contradictions of the regime that a pllrely reformist a pproach ' ....IS 110 longer
lCasible. Wi th the sense that the time for reforms had passed. the revolution-
ary optioll became hard to resist.
Th e problem with thc cvolutiomll), approach is that it does not see m 10
con fron t the real issue. To begin with, to speak of progressive radicalization
assumes cOnlinuity between tlte reformist and the rcvolutio11lllY stands. In
rcali t)', the lise of different theoretical tools to analyze Ethiopian society at
the time caused a break in cOlllinuity and led to e nbragement in a divergcnt
direction. T he di ffe rence between rcvoluuon and reform is onc of kind , nOt
of degree. And the shift occurred as a !'csul t of Ethiopian rcalities being read
through ;t complctely different theorc::lical lIIodel. namely. Ma rx i sm~

------------------------~~
 'I'll, RiSt' of SllIfifmf H(ldimfism ill ElhiojJi(1 15

LCt~i nism . This different reading, and it a lone, explains the prescription of
ra(ilc<lllherapy. The error is to think that t.he accumula tion and aggravation
o~ sOcial contradictio n s radicalized the stude nts whe n in reality th e adoption
o f a t'adical ideology altered the very perception of the problems. Th e ide-
olo~ so affected the read ing of the problems Ihal they seemed to req uire
nothing less than a f<ldical sol Ulion. In shon, what radica lized tJ1 e movement
is not exasperatio n in Ihe fa ce of the problems but p rior comm itme nt to a
I'adic.,l ideOlogy.
Bah ru himself seems to end orse the primacy of ideological com mit.me nt
wh e n , spea king of sLUde nt publi cation s on the national q uest ion, he writes:
~ Id eological authenticity or rectitude takes preced ence over historical real-
ity. The m.yor preoccu pati on of Ihe authors is tlOl so much with what
Ethi opia is as wilh what Marx, Lenin, and Stalin-particularly the last two-
sa id. Th e cardinal imporlance of the natio n al q uestion is assened in
emph atic terms. The 'nationa l question', we are told , is n ot to be dismissed
as a secondaty con tradiction."t5 In olher words. facts were misconstrued in
.~ lt c h a wa)' as to jllstify the p rio r ideo logical stand of rhe swdent movement.
Since Marx ism-Leninism d ecreed that the na tional question wa s a funda-
mental contradiction, Ethiopian histOl), had to be made con formabl e 10 the
requirement of the theOlY, el'en at the expense of h istorical reality. Even
Tig re an stud e nts d eclared Tigray a nation Ivithout any record o fTi gmy hav-
ing ever existed olllSide Ethiopia. Clearl)" the driving power of n ldicaliz,,"nion
was less the lack of reforms than this prior ideological comlfOlmcnt throug h
which Ethi o pia n reality was ana l )~l.e d.
T h e writing stylc that was characteristic of"s uldent publications best shows
the long in g for ideolog ical consiste n cy. A cu rsoty look a t th ese writings
illustrates hO\\l wid espread was the method of dismissing opponcnlS b),
means of quo tations. A position is rejccted as wrong if one shows that it
does 1I0t agree with one of Marx's, Lenin 's, o r Mao's state me nts, evcn if it
looked factua lly p e r tinellt. Conformi ty to the d octrin e matlered more than
factual a n a lysis a nd rational scru tiny. And as opponents used o th e r quota-
tions tojustify th eir views. tllC dism issal by m ean s of quotations could go on
indefinite ly.
T h e con cern for ideolog ical rectitude was so overwhe lming that man)' stu-
dents did not hesitate to imita te Lenin 's style of writing. Ba hru cites the case
of T ilah ull Gizaw, a famous leader of the movcmen t, who "cx h austs the
repcno ire o f abusive cpith elS bequeath ed by Lenin and Sta lin in his efforts
to annihilate ideolog ically the ESUNA leadership, which had dared to pro-
pose a different solution 1.0 a common probl em .·qij Th ese attitudinal features
clearly back the id ea that ideological rad icali l.atio n came firs t and then had
its impact o n the reading of Ethiopian realities. Il ence the need to explain
first th e cultu ra l conditions that weleomed the ideolob'Y of MarxiSlll-
Leninism before weigh ing the part pla)'ed by social problems ....
 J6 Tilt Rist of SllIritlll Radicalism ill Ethio/Jill

The Iwcessity of according primm.:y to culture sti c~ out as soon as we pay

allen tion to the social origins of the revolutionaries, N; W'dS the case in other
countries, in Ethiopia many nlClica ls came from well-to-do families, As a rule,
students coming from poor fami lies were mo re focused on academic studies,
which opened fo r them tire path of social mobility. than were students from
wealthy fami lies. The number o f radicals who belonged to wealthy, even
inOu cn tial famili es was so noticeable that Makonnen Bishaw, a moderate
who was elected to th e USUAA presidency in 1968, has said: Mat times, it
looked like that some of the studen L'i were being used by their ambitious
families to effect some kind of a COll p. "17 The partici pation of so many sons
and daughters o f high o ffi cials o f the regime in the student movement is
believed to have tempered the violent response of the government, thereby
encouraging the rad icals to become even mo re daring.
Consider th e creation of th e All-Ethi opia Socialist Movement (Me la
Eth io pia Socialist Neqena(]e). or MElSON, in 1968 at a meeling in
Ham burg, Germany. In a recent book wri tten in Amharic, an innuential
member of the organization enumerates twenty-five foundin g membe rs all
ofwholl! had earned h igh uni versity degrees. 18 Among Ulcm we lind neither
workers nor peasants; and most o f them came from well-to-do families, ule
o nly way by which they cou ld have had the opportunity of studying abroad.
Stated otherwise, the orga nization was purely a party of inte ll ectuals from iL~
incepti on and remained so until ule Derg d isba nd ed it Now it would be dif-
ficult to attribute the revolutionary stand of these intellectuals to economic
fru stration since, however badly the Ethi opian governmen t managed the
economy,.<1 bright future awaited most of them. Henl.:e th e inevitable ques-
tio n: if the case of revolutionaries comi ng from wealthy families does not
involve economic discontent, what else is left but to look imo cu ltura l issues?

Ideology as a Derivation
Another Ethiopian scholar who tackles the q uestion of the radicalization of
Eth iopia n students at some length is Tesfa ye Dem rnellash. His finding is that
the nat.ure of Ethiopia's internal connicts and the intern ational context
combin ed to make Marx ism-Leninism appeal ing to Ethiop i an~stll d e n t.s . I-Ie
writes: "Marxism appealed to the Ethiopian slllde nt intelligentsia not only
because it con tained a radical critiquc o f both capitalism and feudal ism, but
also because it alTered them, as no other indigenous or fo reign intellectual
tradition cou ld, a different structural model of national development and an
alternative conceptio n of the good society."19 One reason why libera lism was
not attractive to Ethiopian studen ts was the aggregation of capitalism with
fcuda lism in the Ethi opian context The addi tion ora harmful international
condition to the already aggravated social contradictions re ndered the refor-
mist approach irre levant. Instead of encoumging liberalization by shatteri ng
 'nl(' RI:le Q/Studellt Raili((J(is1II ill Etliio/li(l J7

feudal institutions, impe rialist ci.lpitalism so illlimate ly coa lesced with Haile
Sclassie's feudal regim e that it olTe red no other solution to Ethiopian Stu-
de nts than the adoption of the socialist ideology as the o nly means to get rid
of both fe udalism and imperialism.
T? explai n why Ethiopian students were attracted to Marxism-Lenin ism,
Teslaye adopts a typ ical dema rc he. First he posits the awareness o f th e pmb-
lel~1S and th e n suggests that socialism was adopted beca use it offe red appro-
pl"late solutio ns. He never conte mplates th e possibility that it may have heen
the other way round, namely, that the prior adoption of Marxism-Leninism
brought aboLltthe nee d for radical solutions-not tltat serious problems did
not e xist in Ethiopia , but another th eoretical approach would have assessed
t~lem dilTerelltly. Yet, that the ideological conviction was prio r to th e analy-
SIS.of th e problems is an idea that must have crossed Tesfaye's mind when he
POII.lts OLlt that many Ethiopian students of the 60S picked up their Marxism
dltl"tng th e ir studi es in America. They did not discover the theory ill the
COurse o f th e ir concrete struggle within the Ethiopian rea lities; rat.he r, they
brought it from Outside. For, as specified by Tesfaye himself, the fact ~ that
the. ESM [Ethiopian stude nt moveme nt] had no organic links to broade r
sOcIal forces in Ethiopia , especially prior to the Fe bruary Revolution of
1974: that far from fo rging such links it was only thinki ng and acting
MarXIsm 01) belUllJof the masses, mea nt that tbe moveme nt's Marxist world
Otlllook was a product of liule more than pure illtellectual co nstructiOll and
socialization."W ~
1\11 the defects of th e swdent movem e nt-such as ex trem ism, d ogmatism ,
and unrealisl1l_ pointto an activism that a prior ideological conversion pro-
pe ll ed. Tesfaye speaks of the adoption of an abstract positio n tllllt "was not
grounded in the historically specific contradictions, political traditions, and
Cultural pntctices o f Ethiopian society."21 The term "abstract" does indicate
the practice of using Marxism-Leninism as an 11 priori lonn ula with which
things lllust ag ree. The theory did not conform to fa cts; facts were co n-
f?nned to the theol),-that is, they underwent a characteristic reinterpreta-
tion that adjusted them to the di(lates of the doctrine. To the intcresting
question why the Ethiopian stude nt movement e nded up in complete disar-
1,IY, the best answer is that a bstraction and dogmatism made Marxislll-
Leninism irrelevant to Ethiopian realities.

The Eclectic Approach

Another Ethiopian scho lar who deals with the issue of the radica lization of
Ethiopian stude n ts is Gebru Me rs ha who was himself a fanne r activist and
leader. To ex plain why Marxism-Leni'nism exe rcised sllch a strong attraction
?n Ethiopian stude nts and intcllectuals, Gcbru proposes an answer involv-
Ing Illultiple ca uses. After reviewing some authors who dealt .."ith stude nt

=
 18 He Risl' (Jf Sltu/eTlt Raliiw/i,ml ill Ethiopia

movements, he concludes: "The radicalization of the illlellectual$ and their

idenEiJiC<llion with the cause of the oppressed, especially in peripheral for·
mations, stem from a set of interrelated faclOrs: a relatively privileged posi-
tion in society and their exposure to new (lnd revolution,ny ideas and their
knowledge of historical processes, career block(lges, their realization and dis-
enchantmel1l with lhe system and its corrupt political practices, iEs foreign
dornill<llion, etc."22 The Ethiopian situation had added one particular cause
of racl ic(llization, n(lmely, the Eritrcan question, which Gebru charaClerizcs
as "possibly the Ill,tior one," in that il "provoked studen ts to raise one of the
most sensitive political issues, the question of Ilationality. "t~
Comme ndable though th is plur(llist approach is, it docs not give (I clear
picture of the issues. Its essential defect is that it remains an eclectic
approach that simply enU I~lerates and juxtaposes factors of radicalization
with out imegrating th em into a wbole. The lack ofinlCgl-,\tion co nsiderably
decreases the theoretical significance of th e approach, "II tile more so tIS
none of the enumeraled causes calls l'ot' radic"lization by itself. As already
pointed out, the delay o f nccessal)' reforms is not enough to ex plain radi-
calization, However delayed reforms may have been, a liberal solution waS
still possible. Scholars forget that the popular movement that ove rthrew the
imperial regime initially expressed democratic demands rather than social-
ist slogans. The idea of social ist revolution came frOIll "bove, especially from
students and intellectuals. Even the Eritrean question had it perfectly liberal
solution: the retltrn to federalism and the conc rete democratization of the
Ethiopian Slate would have appeased (he m:yority of Erilrcans. There was no
reason for students to radicalize over the issue of E.ritrea unless they had
already accepEed the question as it colonial issue, wh ich presupposed a
Marxist-Leninist re(lding of Ethiopian realiEies.
Let no one brandish Ehc argulllent that liberalism was more diflicult lO
eSl<lblish tll(l11 socialism. Speaki ng realistically, social ism rcquires more mate-
rial and intellecwal resources and higher organizaEional ability lhan liberal-
ism. Herein lies the m:yor Illiswke ofGebru and also of many others, namely,
the assumption lh at "liberalism as an alternative ideology did not have"
strong material base and even as an incipient tendency was already discred-
iLCd."2'[ W"s liberalism d iscrediwd because it was judged inadequate to exist-
ing conditions or was it so judged because students had already become
Marxist-Leninist followers? The rejection of libera lism even as Ethiopians
had no any experience of a libenll society suggests that the d ismissal was a
priori , doctrinal. Gebru's reference to the exposure of students to revolu-
tionary ideas further confirms the primacy of ideological conversion. It
asserts that Marxism-Leninism hacl become so fashionable lhal libe ralism
I ... as n;jeclcd even before it was discussed.
In terms of undermining feudalism and imperial allloCl,lcy, libera lisnl
would have, moreover, been no less efficient than Marxism-Lenin ism. A liberal
 nu~ Ri(~ oj Slud",11 Rmlira/iSIII ;'1 Elliio/,ill 19

POsi.lior~ can perfeclly express social grievances resulting from lack of demo-
~-atrc ngills, corruption, career blockages, foreign domination, and so 011.
a COUntl)' facc...'S these problems, to the exten t. that it belonbl"S to a lowcr
stagc of cconomic development, what it nceds is a bourgeois revolution.
Accordingly, a shift to social ism cannot be assigned to the effects of social
problems: wi t.hout the mental orientation lhat imeq)rets social problems
t~rough the lens of the Marxist-Lc::ninisl doctrine, liberalization would be
Simply tile commo nsenSe thing to do .
. Cebrll shou ld have all the more prioritized the ideological componellt
Slncc he denounces the "revolutionary romanticism~ of the student move-
~nent, together with its ~cnld c and superficial digest of Marxist-Leninist
Ideas~~~''''
. 10 spea k 0 f' ro mantICIsm 'd'
. . .IS \0 IIn( fer ,.lIle t Ie elac lJl)ent 0 Ie cas ,.. ,
fronl Ethiopian realities. It also points to the main rcason why th e movemelH
~lad to cede lhe leadership of the 1974 Revolution to a military junta: its
rnadequate ideological foundations, which cou ld not have emanated fro m
~thi.opia's objective conditions, did 1I0t. allow the studelll movcmCIll to
let,un lhe leadershi p of th e social protests. Si nce a consistent slntggle fOI'
dClllOcr-atic rights could h;l\'c addressed the social demands, the shift to
~ia~ ism thus reveals an in<ttional inspiration that Cllll only have come fmlll
Ideillt . . ation and the dogmatic reading of Marxism-Leninism.

ToWnrd n Comprehensive Explanation

The Ethiopian scholar who, to Illy knowledge, has given the most com pre-
h~nsive ex planation of the radicalization of Ethiopian students is Addis
Hlwel. After describing the allempt to explain the I,rdicalization of the Slu-
~lenLS in ~psychological tenns-'alienation,' 'mom I distress,' 'moral crisis,'
genemtional conlliCl' [as] all 'Catch-2:.! like terms,' ~ Addis lays OIiLl he social
conditions in coruullclion wi th the culLUml component.~'f' I-Ie thlls mentions
the Cll ltllr~ll tension resulling fmm the fact that ~thc imported cducatiOllal
~YS1CIll wa.'I, broadly. at ideological vari:lllce with the ancient I'egimc, the
IIllPOrter. ft~7 He also allrldes to the impact of the global culture of revoliltion
~ha"'aCteristic or the 1960s, which lIIovcd Ethiopian studen ts still furthel'
11'0111 their native cultural tics. Summarizing the huge hn pact of this global
culture of revolution, he writes, MTlu EllrioPi(1II r(l(/iall ;IIll'lfiW'IIISifl was wry
lIIuch (l /)olil;Cfll omllm' of lire siXlirs-bolh ill ;I,t fomwl;VI' (Qllsolir/fI/;OII {IS fI {(lSII'
alld ill ils IlOliliciz.(I{io"."~H
. Addis has lInderstood that socia l cond itions are not enough to explain the
flU'lh of mdicalism. In addition to social determ inants, we must analyze the
Cldtura[ conditions that created llOt only a protesting intelligentsia, but also
a revolutionary one, Th e situation must involvc, to usc Addis's feli citous
eXpreSSion, MOl caste" determined to LUi'll the whole system upsk[(· dowll. In
a word. the explanation must be comprehensive cnough to ;lii;count for the
20 'I'll, His' ojSI1U{rlli RfI({im/islJI ill ElhiQ/)i(l

rise of a heretical eli te. Only where cultural incompatibility develops

together with social blockages do connicts between elites cross the threshold
of re formism and move toward social revolutions. It is imperative, therefore,
to study the cu ltural dynamics that bring abollt the emergence of an
alienated and he terodox illlelligentsia. When members of an innucntial sec-
tor become adamantly opposed to their own legacy, they no longer seek to
establish continuity by in tegrating Lhe old and the new, the traditional and
Lhe modern. They want to erase tradition and build a new society. In thuS
calling for th e eradication of the past, they pursue nothing less than a social
revolution.

The Manufacture of Radical Student Moveme nts

Understanding the accession of radical groups to leadersh ip even as the
tTl;yority of studenL'> profess moderate views is one challenge that scholars of
studen t movements face. The Ethiopian case is no exception. Donald L.
Donham posits f~lirl y well the problem whc n he asks: "Why, aLthe outset, did
a small educated vanguard in Ethiopia become so enamored of the notion
of revolution? And why, in a matter of only months, did virtually (III
Ethiopian political aClOrs at the ce nte r take up Marxism?"29 Donham's ques-
tions amount to asking how radicals, evicting moderates, took the lead e rshi p
of the social protest movement. Indeed, J<ldical iza\io n does nOt mean that
the m,yorilY of students became arden t Marxists, but simply that they acqu i-
esced LO the leadership of militant Marxist students.
For the m<Borlty ofsLUdents did not become radical; in fact, for many years
Lhe complaint was that Ethiopian students were unusually indiOercn tLO pol-
itics. Witness the editorial of March 1965 of Challl'lIge, the journal of the
Ethiopian Swdenl.') Association in North America, which complains as fol-
lows: "Ethiopia's educaLCd youth, unlike those of other cou ntries, has con-
sisLCntly failed to address itself to them [social issues). Its history is not onC
o f real concern for Ethiopia bu t a record of cx treme individualistic egoism,
opportunism and despair. It is a disunited and uninspiring body.... It is not
known for an awaren ess of genuine nationalism like Lhc youth of its ge ne ra-
tion e1sewhere.,,3(l In light of Ethi opian sllldents bein g so liule politicized ,
especially com pared to counterparts in other third world countries, we can
apprecia te the extent of the isolation of the few activists in the early years of
the movement, but also the amount of work and dedication that they had to
apply to finall y politicize the m;:yority. Needless to say, the repealed fail ures
of the imperial regime provided a much needed helping hand to th e work
of politicization.
Data t".ke n from various countries con firm that large numbers of stu dents
do not show a n intense inte rest in political issues. 111 the end, however, such
students ofLen come to accept the leade rship of organized a nd militant

....
 Th~ Riu oJ SllIdt'lll nU(IiC(lI~11I i" Eillio/l;(' 21

~roups. N? doubt, campus seclusion , youth idealism, the spirit of solidarity,

·\11(1 peer lnnuence enter illlo the rise of I~ldical groups 1.0 leadership, but
~hc~ do not fully explain it. Take the case of tbe May I g68 stude nl rebellion
In France: the m.yority ofswdcnts progressively embraced what al first was
the preoccupation of a radical minority. The main problem, in France as
elscwhere, "is to explain why the protest of this minorit}, was enth usiastically
;ld~pted by a large Ill.yo rity of the students. H31
10 understand why thc mlyorily of French Sllldcnts came to fo liow radical
groups, Olle must refer LO the predicaments of Fren ch society, especially to
l~lC clises of the educational system. Fr.mce's elitist model of higher ed ucl-
lIOn was increasingly at odds with the growing number of students coming
~rom lowcr-midd lc-class and working-<:Ias.s famili es. In consequence, lhe ris-
Ing number of dropouts and unemployed gradullles caused a deep ;:mxicty
<llll?ng studen!.s, which resonated with milit:lllt grou ps' denunciation of the
enllre :;ocial system. The wide student revoh WitS therefore the product of
lhe ~coluunction between bro.·ul issues proposed by the radicalmi ll orit}' and
Ihe diffuse dissatisfaction felt by the Ill<!jority of the studellls with regard to
the university system."''! Without the dissatisfaction of thc m.yority of stu-
de nts, the mdic;lis wou ld likely ha\'e pursued their denunciation of the sys-
lem, bl lt o nly as a minority. The dissatisfaction of the Ill;uority e nabled them
to reach ou t by harnessing the crises of the educa tional sCCLOr 10 their
denunciation of the whole system. This convergence of interests explains
why the nOnradical mlyority followed the 1~ldicals' leadershi l;.
A :;imilar evolution seems 10 have taken place in Ethiopia in the ea rly se\'-
c nties. Not o nly did the educational system occomc so dysfunctionaltllat U1 C
11111nber of university d ropouts dr~lfl1atically increased, bUI also the national
economy's sluggish grmvth could nO! 'lbsorb even univcrsity gn,dualcs. Add
to this m.yor crisi~ the impe rial regime's comple tc reluctance to cmlc t
l"efo n1ls , and YOll will Iln dcrstillld hOIll progressively th e nll!jority of Slmlen ts
came IInder the in fl uence o f the radicals, who wanted 10 destroy the system.
A.~. We shall sec. neither thc regime nor the university administration did an}'- I
thmg to help moder:Hes have some innllcnce in the student. movement. On
.the contrary, the way Ihey handlcd pro tests a nd demands propelled the rad-
tcals to uncontested leadership o f the movement. I
T ha t the m;y orily of stude nts, first in dine rc nt and apolitical, were gradu-
ally (h-I . , groups, t,lcre b
' wn'Into Ill!.,.Itancy by I-a(hca · · I)Irt
y glvlIlg · ,1 to w,lat ca n
be called a rcvol utionary gener<ltion , allows the char'acterization of the gen- I
Cration as a manufactured movement. Eth iopian sllldcnt I~ ldica1ism was a
product of social contradictions but even morc so o f the input of 1~ldical
groups who pl'Ogrcs.sivcly politici~cd tile m.tiority of slLl(lents. Jo hn Markakis
I
and Nt:ga A}'elc rlesCl"ibe well how in Ethiopia a few activists succeeded
in f: ,
a:; lioning a scatlered, discolllCllled social group into a revolutionary
n1oVcnlcnt: ..
22 'nr /list' 0/ SllI/lt'IIl Illillira(;sl/I ill 1:'lhiollia

Students altd teachers were cxtremely active agi tating. pamphleteering. :lIId
dClllonstn[ting and provoking others to do Ihe same. They in liltmted o ther org:l-
nizations. and sought til innucllce their position iTJ.iccti ng political c le men ts into
t.·\·el)' con fli ct and sharpc ning COntr;uliclions whenc\'cr possible. GI,;[dually thc)
succecded in focusing dh'cf"ic gdc\'<tnces on thc rcgimc iL~elr. ddin ing it as
the country's cssential prohlem. and thc formation of a l)Cople's govcnullent
as the o illy re:11 solutio n . ~Th e root of such problcms as COITupt offici .. ls and
similar pro blems, is thc s),Stt.'1l1 i l';clr,~ ave rred o ne leanet, Mand Ihe solution 10
thelll is a fund,uncnlal c hange of the s)'stem and the fO["lll:u io n of a peopk's
government , M"
The qllotat io n cleal"ly shows that as much as. if not mo re tban, the o l~jeclive
cOlldilions, tb e mdical discourse that made the ['e moval of social problclllS
(kpendent on regime cha[lge is respo nsibl e for the polilicizatioll of the
m,tiority o f students. Ordinary stud ents complain about corruption, unCl11"
ploymellt , the rising costs ofliYing, mismanagement, and the like; the St1<ll-
e!:,,), of the radic" ls is to bring th ese students i11to th inking that these
problems can no t go away unl ess the regime is overthrown amI replaced by a
socialist governm ent. T he objective situation is not e nough LO exphlin the
revolutionary course; equally necessary is the exploitation of lhe situat.ion by
nldical groliPs. Without Ih e inO,tence of the Marx ist 111dica ls, the socially dis-
contented would not have abandon ed the moder:lle course of reforms.
If the radicaliwtiOtl of stude nt rnovemellL" is largcJy accOt lnled fo r by the
capture of leadership by radical grou ps, how Ciln one explain that a minor-
ity is able to defeat not only conserv.lti\'c studcnts but also the lllode1<lteS,
who most naturally represent the m,yority? The allusion to a cOI1\'c rgcnce of
interests is not entirely satisfactory if only because it docs not explain the
sidelining of moderates. One possible ans\\'er is lhat tile impact of the Illin or~
ity derives from its ability to express the hidden , unconscious desire of lite
Imti0rity of students, As Raymond Aron sa),s, "In ally historical period and
espccially il1 a re"olutionary period , a min ority ma), express the spirit of the
time, may translate into actions the ideas or the underlyin g desire of;l gen"
era tion. ~~·' Even th ough rc\'oh u ioTls arc admittedly the work of mill ol'ities,
the laue r actua lly carry out what thc m:tiority sccre tly desires. This repre-
se ntative \~llue largely ex plains the impact of minorilies.
There is no doubt that the determined and p ro lracted struggle of the
mino1'it)' awake ns the m:ti0rity 1.0 what it wants. But we must go beyond the
role of awaken i11g; we must spea k of a fo rmative I'Ole, which is o ften called
indoctri nation. More than the 1ll1tiorilY rccognizing its desires and wishes in
thc aclivistn o f the rn in o 1'it y, it is the minority that shapes the m,ti0rily intO
wanting a radical form of change. Th e formative !'Ole of minoriti es attestS
that revolution<1 ry t1lO\'emcnL~ are not the exclusive product of social
conditi ons: thc existence of re"olutionaries \\'ho agitate and lead i<; equallY
important.
 'I'll(' !liSt oj SlIIdt'll' Nor/ira/ism ill 1~>IIIiQlli(l 23

Or particular illlcrcst here is the question of how revolutiollary groups

emerge in the first place. Withollt doubt, revolution;u, ideologies initially
::~~'aCI in~ividlta[s '.'who .n.lilY. be I~lolivalcd by ~)cr~ollal psychological needs,
lhc,~XP~1 JCI~~~S" dls?qulllbnu.m-lndliced tenSions, or <l. combination of all
. sc fOl CCS • 3.'> 1 he Introduction of changes through either internal C\,Olll-
t;on or outside influence always prm'okes a state of disequilibrium that favo rs
~ 1<:: emergence of dissidl:1H views. Nmably, changes e nlail a disharmony
. el~vcen th e existing value system and the social Cl1vironmcm. When t.here
;5 dissonance between the wIllie system and the social e llvironment, devirtnl
:ehrtviors multiply at lhe individllal level. While most people yearn for a
~sY~lcbronization of the system, there rtre those who go over to rejcClion .
. eVlant behaviors can range from the spread of alcoholism, debauchcry,
:lnd delinquent gangs LO the appearance of new religiolls sects and dissidelll
'.deol?gies. Individua ls who become alienated from their society look for a
~UllSt.l~tHe in the creation or adoption of new revolutionary ideologies. And
I.r:. raIling to reform itsctf, the society goes through persistent and severe
~'I 'scs, deviant groups find a sui table condit ion to spread their revolution"ry
l( eology to other individ uals and groups, thereby creal ing a revohuionalY
lllOVClllent
[ A WOrd or caution: the reference 10 deviant be haviors does nOt mean that
I eq uate revolUlionism with alcoholism, debauchery, and gangsterism. What
I Want to establish is thai revolutionalY impulse appears in societies going
t.'rough a severe disequilibrium, which is also manifested by uilusual aUrac-
liOn tOward extremist religious sects as well as by increased alcoholism and
?ther aSOcial conducl. Needless 1O say. the dincreJ1 ce between revolutionar-
. ,.n( I t Ile young people who look lor escape in alcohol or drugs or through
leS·l
T'l"ltual pursuits was that the rormer believed, even as !lley pani cipated in
tlC samt: malaise, thai political action and change could put an e nd to the
n.ced to escape the grut:some rcalit}, through delinquent be havior or reli-
gIOus fervor.

The Emergence of a Mmxist-Leninist Core Group

Nothing proves better the manufactured nature 0 r raeI·"':<1 I OppositIon .. move-
1l1ents th I ' . . I rE
.. an tlC Ethlopmn studenl movement. T lC case 0 'lllopla provl(I · · . I cs
~ SInkIng example of how successfully a small g roup or Marxist-Leninist rad·
ICais progressively extended its innuence over the m;yority ofsludenLS. The
pt·occss StaneeI .JJ1 the early SIxtIes
. . when a core 0 r Tlli.,.l1anl IV'I · stll(Iellls
anast
Ill<l. dci ts"' ppearance among the stu d ent b O(Iy 0 r,~·,
-,'II e e <ISSIe I U·
SI . .
IlIVerSlty.
\1
f len'Hio f . I· r .
l .. '. n rom the larger soclcty and the relic mg 0 common Marxlst-
I C I~IIlISt litcr:'lurc drew th ese radical students lOgethel: Going beyond ideo-
.~gtC<l1 affinity, they "form ed a loosely organized socie ty called lhe
rocodiles' "during the academic year of 1963-64.'16 ..
24 Till' Wse Q/S/lUiml UlilliralislII ill 1':,II;o/lifl

The term "crocodile" needs some clarification, According to Randi

R0nni n'g Balsvik, the "name ind icated its underground element, secrecy, and
dangerotls and IlnprediCL."lble nature,~~7 The myste rious nature of the group
was such that sOllie scholars doubt ils existence while Olhers maintain that il
had 50 to 75 membe rs, Obviously, ~ec recy wm; neccssll1)' for reasons of sur-
vival in the context ofa highly repressive imperial st.He, But it also provided
the group , ... ith a certain aura, ;:llll.11e more so as tbe eilrly ildoption ofa rad-
ical ideology pu t the grOllp at variance with the rest of the sttldenlS, The
term "crocodile" cOllveys the enigmauc and d isquieting trait stemming from
the ideological disparity of the group,
The view of political mi lit ancy as a p ro fession o r iI vocation was the defin-
ing feaLUre of the group, Fully adhering to the Lenin ist concept of "profes-
sional revoltllionaries," the members or the group saw the unive rsity not so
much as a p lace where one-learns and acquires the skill.s necessHI)' to pursue
a professional career as a fo rum su it."lble for poli tical agitation, It is impor-
tantto undersmnd that their mi litancy was derived from an ideological stand
I<lther than from their own econom ic plight, obvious as it \\<;\s that most of
them joined th e universi ty because their Fami lies could alTOI'd it. To be sure,
social problems had an impact on thei r ideological transformation , but the
point is that 1.\ commitment of this nature is primarily made 0\1 ideological
or moral grounds, As is the case with revolutionaries in other countries, th e
E.thiopian radic;:lls represented "culturally alienated illlellccumls-men and
women of well-to-do families wh o 11<ld removed themselves from the ortho-
dox stream of thei r society's traditional c ullure,":-liI How otherwise cou ld one
explain their early adherence to the r,ldical ideolob,)' of' Man.ism-Lenin ism
and their systemauc mi lit."lncy? They did not turn to 1<ldicalism via an assess-
ment of the unfeasibili ty of the reformist smnd; they went straigh t 10 radi-
caliSIll consequent to doctrinal conversion,
T he rormation of the Crocodi le group in the university is reminiscent of
the group that Mao lk.... llLng c rcaled when he joined the I lmmll P.'ovincial
First Normal Teachers' Train ing School. Mao writes: "Gradually I did build up
a group of students around myself, a nd the nucleus was formed of what later
\\';:\5 to become a society that was to have a widespread influence on the .. ITairs
and desu ny of China,":¥.) Emphasizing their powerful and ecc~ntri c devouon,
he ,Kids: " It was a se rious-minded lillie grou p of lllen and they had no time to
discuss triviali ties, E.verything they did or said mUSt have a purpose, They had
no time for love or 'romance' and considered the times laO critical a nd the
need for knowledge too urgent to discuss women or personal matters, I was
nOl in terested in ,\'omen."10 At the age when most young men e njoy dancing
a nd flirting a nd a rc busy planning their future caree rs, Mao and those who
followed him exhibited the idiosynCr.llic behavior of shu nning pleasurable
and careerist pursuits, T hey gave themselves over to an asceUc li re completely
devoted to the revolutionary cause, Revoluuoll was the ultimate goal for

------------------------~~
 'I'lJr Hisi' DJS/mlml HfUfira/ism in 1~/hiQf!ia 25

W~lich they lived and sacrificed pleasures and careel'. In comple te agrcenU::1ll
WIth Lenin, revollllion had become a proiession for them. It would be com-
I~lelely wrong to attribute this overriding commitmelll to social problems
Iron I· I ..
1 W IIC 1 they or theIr fmmly had suffered. Had adverse social condiLions
caused the cOllllniLlllent, it would not have developed such a systemal.ic and
thought-absorbing character. These were people who had become so
obsessed with revolution that they had decided to die for it. II" they had seen
revolUtion <IS a means of defending material interests, their activism would
not have been systematic, but illlenniuent and circumstantial.
, A. similar spirit animated the stud ents who fonned the Crocodile group in
E.th~opia. Besides recruiting followers and criticizing the university adminis-
~ralJon and the gove rn men t, especially for the i111posil iOll of policies res[rict-
mg freedom of ex pression and organizalion, their main objective was, from
the stan, the c reation of a strong and united stlldelll movement entirely
committed to social ist ideolob'Y. Th ey did nOl underestimate the difiicuhy of
the task, but they saw in th e seriousness of their own comm itment the assur.
ance that they possessed enough ene1');,'Y and si n gle-mindedness to overcome
all obstacles.

Con fli cts between Modera tes and Radicals

Th e triumph of r.ldicalism in the student movement owes milch to the stead-
fastness of the Crocodile g roup. A most memorable cxpressi6n o f persever-
ance is the prolracted struggle th,ll the rad icals waged to c re,lte a citywide
association in the capital by dissolving llle practice of each campus having its
Own association. Nei ther the universi ty administration nor the imperial gov-
ernment liked [he idea of such a wide association. Alarmed by the prospect
of radical students controlling such a large lin ion, moderate students also
Opposed the idea. A referendum was organized in November 1966 asking
Students to choose between the existing campus llnions and the citywide
union. Its resultS p roved that the proposal of a citywide ullion "was by no
means genera lly su pported ."l l All the campuses situated Oul.';ide the main
campus called Sidisl Kiloyoted to retain their campus unions, while lhe 11l,~or­
it}' of studen ts in th e main GlIllpUS where the radicals were most ,[ctive sup-
poned the idea of one union. Be it noted that. the idea of one union also
meant the replacement of the variOlls student publications by one single pub-
lication, namely, Struggle, which as its name indicates. renected the views of
the radicals and alread y drew many readers among the stude nt population.
Though the city""ide union IV;IS imlllgura1.ed on April 7, 1966, lhe mount-
ing opposition made the victory o f the radical studen ts precarious. Those
who initiated the opposition to the cilywide association and advocilled the
restOration 01" campus unions <Kquired the ll<ime of '·restore rs.~ There was
also another g roup called the" 'Clean Sweep Commiuec,' ~ whi.ll while nor
opposed 10 th~ idea of citywide union was detennined to tO pple the radical
leade rs hip so as to cleanse lhe association of extremist views. I~ As the fig ht
i nt~nsified, a growing number o f studenlS callle to suppOrt the reSlOrers.
What was at linn an issue of effic ie ncy and beller org;.m i......Hion turned intO 1\11
open ideological fight between radicals and moderates. The restOrers
"strongly opposed what they llnde rs tood to be a monopoly of USUAA by
'communist' interests and held that studenlS with diO'erent views wcre 'sys-
tematicall}' a nd consistently molcstt:d and ridiculed.' .. , ~
As it became clear that th e con fli ct bctwccn Lhe reSlOrers lind the rad icals
wa" e ndangering tbe vely existence of lil t: swdelll unio n , sen io r stud cnL~
proposed the resolution of the con fli ct by means of m;~jority VOte. The cam-
paign showcd a strong tendcncy to cICCI people who were free of ideological
allegiance. One election poslcr of II Ie moderates read: "INe sha ll bow ne ith e r
to th e easte rn nor to the westel'l1 dogmas .... Ethiopia shall triumph!
Ethiopianism prcva il !~H Conscqucn tly, the scats o f president and secretary
of USUAA \\'enl LO I bilu Me ngcsha a lld Mesfin Ilalnu , respec tively, who had
promised to promote InlSI and unity within the studen t bod y. In one of his
speec hes, J-Iailu said: "No problems cou ld be solved unless 'ou r imported
ideologies-ideologics which c reate division and hatred, disharmony and
cleteriOl'ation' were put aside.'''I'' The restorers' oll'ensivc had produced
results: it led 10 thc election of moderntcs. Anothc rwell-knowl1 momcn t tlmt
resulted in the election victory of moclermion ove r nldicalism occurred in
the 1968-69 academic year when the candidate o r the Marxist 1";ldic Ils,
T ilahun G izaw, lost the preside ncy to Makonne n Bishaw, whom th e moder-
ates supporte d.
These el ection re\'cl'sals o f the radicals demonstrate th e cxistence ora split
bet\veen m oderate lmd radical leadcrs since the early YC< II'S or thc stud e nt
movemt:nt. They also indicate that th e spli t had widened to the ext.ent that
"the radicals were not unopposed on camp u s.~IO The seriousncss of tIle llloci-
cr.lte opposition unde rlines the obstacles tlmt the f"di cals had to overcom e
to fin .. lly triumph and assume the com plete leadel-sh ip (If the student move-
ment. The mdical orientation of Ihe Ethiopian stude nt mOVCIlU:llt was lle i~
ther a spontaneous nor an ine vitabl e outcome; it was the prodllet of th e lIard
work a nd dedication of a fe w revolutional), sLude nlS. As " malleI' of !i lCt, tll c
ascendance of th e moden.ltes was nevc r de finitive nor sweeping. They did
not succeed in retaining for long til e leadc l's hip of tht: movemc nt, still less
in reducing t h e g rowing influe nce of Marxist-Lenin ist students.

The Victol'Y o f the Radicals

In order to unde rstand how modemtes pl'Ogressivc1y lost con tro l of the HU-
denllllon:m e nt, let u" consider th e momentolls demonstration o f Febnt<u)'
~!l, t 965, during wh ich sll1de nlS marched in front of thc Parl iament building
 Tlu' Risl' oj Slutit'lli IltUlifil/ism ill Dhio/Jiu '27

and in thc streets of Addis Ababa with the slogan "L,nd to lh e Tiller,~
According to an account of that demonstration, nine months earlier stud ent
represelltatives had submitted a moderate recom mendation urging "the gov-
ernment to ' provide protection LO the peasant by lebrali1.ing the cont ract
~)etwcen OWller and tenants', fOrm producers' cooperm.ives, and de\'c1op sa\'-
lIlg and cn.;dit institulions accessible to farmers." 17 The recommendation
SU'csscd the Ileed 10 create a Lruly representative parl iament,lll' system by
devt.:Joping d emocratic institutions. Not only were "the recollullen da-
Lions ... made within the language of liberal -democratic capitalism," but in
a move that betrayed a lin gering confidence in the imperial institution, they
were also presented directly to lhe emperor, who showed his appreciation
for the students' concern:!!!
Nine months later the Uni versity C.ollege Union issued a new a nd di ffer-
ent resolution reOeCling th e resurgence of radicals. Th e institlllion ofa con-
tI'\C l between landowners and tenants was Oatly rejected on the grounds that
it would only perpetuate th e existing system of tenancy. It was replaced by a
nldieal option wh ose "main slobra ns were 'L,nd to the Tiller' and 'Away with
Serfdom.' "19 Un mistakably, Lhese slogans announced the return of radical
students to a position of leadershi p. What explains this return? The discus-
sions in Fcbru;ul' 1965 in the Chamber of Depllties of a prqjeClcd law regu"
lating the relationships between landowners and tenants g ive the answer.
The talks bore n o fruit: " Pressurc frolll iandowning interesL~ !.nside and OLlt-
sid e parJiamelH ensured that no vote was taken, despite the f~lct that the
e mpe ror W,ts understood to favor the propos'll, and Sweden had threatcned
to discontinLle agricultural d evelopmelll assistance if it did nOt pas.~."!".o The
blockage worked for the radicals, who had the easy task of convincing Stll-
denl~ thalthe imperial governmelH and the feudal class we re nOt willi ng 1.0
make cve n minor refo rms. In light of this open reluctance 10 make the
sl ightest chan ge to the existing system, no other choice was left but to step
up lhe struggle in lhe direct.ion of overthrowing lhe regimc,
The main reason why the moder;lles, who had the confid ence of the
m.tio1'ity, progressively lost the leadership 10 Marxist mdicals is thus dear
enough. The govcmment's refusal to deal with the burning qUf'stion of ten-
ancy llndermined the posi cioll of 1lI0denites in favor of radicals. Reformism
wou ld have prevai led if the government had supported ref01"l1list students by
listening to some of' their suggestions. Moderate leaders could then have
ilrgued that tlleywere obtailling results, tlmt refon1liSIlI was the way to go. In
rejecting even minor refo rms, the government did nothing less than push
most students inlO sllppordng: the views of the mdicals, With no reform
forthcoming, a confrontational attitude supplantcd both dialoguc and con-
structive criticism.
When, on top of rejecting reforms, governmcnts engagc in a policy of
systematic I'cpression, the chance for modenltcs to relain the It!adership o f

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ..
studt'lI t movemen ts becomes close to lero. Of the Ethiopian case, Balsvik
astutely writes: "The government might have bee n able to enlist a loyal oppo-
si tion ; mode rate fo rces were still strong among lhe st uden ts. Instcad , it
rejected th c contribution and cxchangc of ideas from those who thought it
was their parliClllar moral duty to speak OlLt against injustice. Con frontation
was in evitable."!">! EvcII if students had snatch ed the right to have their own
publication and association a!"ter a biuer struggle, thc Ethi opian government
displayed the pattern of closi ng the univers ity and removing th e recogn ized
rights each time tha t studcn ts demonstrated over some social issue. Those
rights were reinstated anew until a new demonstnuion put them again in
jcopardy. This repressive cycle enabled the radicals to claim the si tuation was
ho pelcss and that all forms of moder;nion were utterly inappro priate and
inefficient.
In addition to blocking-reforms and creating despair. a repressive state
lIclllallyworks toward the promotion of radical leaders. Wh en, frightcned by
repression, moderate leadc rs leave th e scene. radical students step in both to
air demands specific to the student population and to spread their ideolog-
ical beliefs. The withd l":lwal of mode rate leadcrs confirllls the exte nt to
which re pression cripples moderation. In the facc of sac rifices and risks, the
nulic:lls havc an un contestable edge, givc n their initial cOlllmitmcnt to the
calise of revolution. The more dangcrolls th e situation becomes, the greater
is the prospcct for radical studcnts to come to U1 C forefro nt of the struggle.
If c rc , ..c witness how political conditions can propel radical groups to the
leadership ofa movement that is composed in the m,yorilYof moder-ate stU-
de nts. As Misagh Parsa pu ts it, ~Govel"l1ment repression m<ly weaken or el im-
inate elite or moderate challengers and consequcntly polarize the
opposition in favor of the hegemony of radical or revolutional), chill-
lengers .,·~t Re pressio n does not (reatc radicalism, which is always the affair
ofa minority and appcars in cO I~Lln c lion with specific th eoreti cal and idco-
logical innuences; but it opens the leade rship of th e protests to radical
groups by effecli,'ely eliminatin g or scaring ofT moderates.
Concretc inSL:"1nces of Ethiopian government policy undermining the
position of moderate leaders abound. Take the imperial governmcnt's
Proclamation on Peaceful Public De monstrations issued Qn Fcbl"Uary I I,
]967. II stipulated that 110 demonstration is allo,,·ed unl ess o rganizers apply
for a PC1111 it a week in advance giving th e time , place. and purpose of the
delli o nstnuion. NatLlI' .ll ly, "the students viewed th e proclamation as directed
mai nly against their political agi l alion."5~ They discllssed til e proclamatio l'
in a gcneral assembly meeling and, by a m.yority vote, adopted th e resolu-
tion 10 stage a demonstration. The dcmonstration led to a clash between the
de lllonstrators and the police and resulted in th c arrest of many studentS.
Studcnts then refused to attend classes until CYCI)' arrestcd stude nl had been
released. The government issued the ultimatum thal unless stude ntS
 nil' I?isf of Sludml HlII/ic(I/ism in J~'lhiolli(l 29

returned to classes the university would be closed. Students rejected the ulti-
matum and Ihe university was ellcctively shut down. The incidelll clearly
shows what drove many sLUde nts to side with Marxist-Lenin ist radicals. A
ce .
aCllonary law IV<IS prol1lulg<llt:d that no reformist st udelll cou ld dare
defend. The suggestion of the rad icals to stage a demonstration emerged as
the only choice left, even in the eyes of the moderate l1l.yority. The govern-
Illent's use of force and im prisonment to disband lhe demonstration merely
sho rc d up the argumenLS of the radicals.
Another representa\.i\'e case is th e incident over the fashion show duri ng
March 1968. Organized by the University Women's Club and some Peace
<;Or.ps volunteers in the main hall of the university, ,the show staged
~th~opian WOmen stude nts wearing the latest European fashion. Under the
I ns~lgalion of rad icals, students protested agai nst the spectacle, which they
assllni lated to "'cultural imperialism' promoted by 'aristocratic Ethiopian
1YOmen and Ame rican imperialism.' ~.->'I Interestingly, the show became the
~ccasion for male students to ven t their condescending alliwde toward
emale stude n ts. Linking the participation of univc rsity women to a lack of
~\vareness abOUlthe detrimental effects of neocolonial influence, an article
In Str/Iggle bluntly stated: ~O llr sisters' heads have been washed by western
Soap."55 Complaints about the low level of' politi cal consciousness of female
~ludents in tensified. For inst..lr1ce, the radicals attributed the loss of the pres-
Idency or the student movement to female votes in favor of the moderate
Makonnen. ~
To the disruption of the fashion show, the govern me nt reacted with its
IISlla] repressive manner. It closed the university, banned sllldenlunions and
I.'ul)l·Icat ions, and arrested studen t leaders a nd dozens of others. Yet, the
fasl~ion show was a cause that mobilized many sw denL" because of its highly
n~tlonatistic implication. Instead of supponing the sllldents for their llation-
allstStand , the repressive response of the governrnentalJowed the radicals to
POrtray themselves in patriotic te rms, that is, as defenders of the national
CUlture.
Equally supportive of the radicals was the inability of the imperial govern-
1f.1lel11 to stlC'
. k to repressIve
· measures. It followc d a vaCI·11·
atmg pattern: a con-
lon~ation would occur over some issuc, and the government reacted by
abohsh' . tng a I ready acquired
.. .
nghts and at tImes I)y c Iosmg
· 1IlC ulltverslty.
. . TI le
~enslon persisted until the govcmmen l presented conditions for the open-
Ing o/" the university. The un iversity would reopen but th e cond itions were
never applied . Finally, when the university admi nistration backed down, the
~~It'tailed rights were restored. Both the reopeni ng of the university and the
l~SlOration of rights invariably appeared as a victot), for the activists, who
IUS became he roes. The implication of this c nhanced authority of the
a:livists was to consecrate confron tation as the only and righ t way to deal
With 11 '
Ie government. ..
30 TIIf lli.~e oj SI!IIIt'1I1 NodiC(lIi.Hll ill 1~lhiQI'i(1

One iU11a%ing outcome of the study or the Ethiopian sUldent movement is

discovery oflhe extent to which the imperial government was heedless of the
consequences or its repressive policy. Though officials knew lha!. radicals
were leading the protest, they did not understand that a repressive policy was
strengthening the radicals' hegemony, the reason being that repression was
ralsely believed to be having a discouraging enccl. In reality, even moderates
wcre incre,lsingly attracted to radicalism the more lhe negative responses or
the government convinced them of their own ineniciency. Engaging in sclr-
criticism, many able mode rate leaders joined the camp of the radicals.
I hasten to add that the repressive and conservative policy or the imperial
government was just one faclOr. no doubt important, in the radicalization or
stude nts. There were other 1~lctors, mostly originating from <In ideological
commitment so absolute <\l1d categorical thaI it justified the lise o r all)'
means to achieve victory. Le t us come back lO the incident or the fashion
show. The hostile campa ign that radicals initiated against the spectacle is
best represen ted by lhe comment of an aClivist in SI11IGGfe: "I-low can a hall
in our Uni versity, where Ollr natio nal culture is believed to be preserved and
developed be used ror gi rts stalking along showi ng western rags?~.'>6 Though
the radicals had a low opinion or Ethiopian national culture, which in other
writings the}' c haracteri zed as reudal, reactionary, and olltdall.:d, they used
the rashion show to present themselves as guardia ns or the national c ulture.
They knew the resonance that this cllltund nationalism would have on many
stu<ienlS and used it to boost th eir image among students.
Intimidation, name-catling, and even physical threat.'; were, according to
many prominent testimonies, among lh e methods radicals used to assert
their hegemony. Fai thrul to the vel'}' style of Leninism, the I<ldicals' pre-
rerred tactic was smearing their opponents. Thus those who held moderate
views were characterized as C IA or governmelU agents. And when smea ring
was not enough, the next step was the threat or physical viole nce . In the e-
mail exchange to which 1 have already attuded, Makonnen Bishaw himself
has confirmed lO me that he had experienced firsthand this tactic when he
was elt!ncd president or USUAA. He added that th e pressure of intimidation
converted some studenlS to 1~<ldicalism:'i7 The method was apparently suc'
cessrul, as fewer and rewer students dared lO challenge the mdicals openly.
As I have noted, the radicals owed their ascendance over tht! moderateS
primarily to their ideological commitment. Again according 10 Makonnen.
many students resented the radicals ror their ex tremism, their choice or vio-
lent opposition, th eir rejection or Ethiopian traditions, and their su ppOl't for
Eritrean secessionist groups.~ Unrortunately, the moderate g1'OUpS had nei-
ther a dear ideology nor any rudimentary organization. They wanted
change, but they did nOt articuhlle !he llature of desired rerorms in such 11
way as to really ofTer a viable alternative. It is no exagge ration to say thaI
ma ny studen ts rollowed lhe lead of the radical grou p by derau lt. No doubt.
 'rhe Rise 0/ Stlli/CIII U(UliCfllism ill fthil)Pill 3!

the, ideologica l hegemony of Marxism-Lenin ism in the six ti es and early scv-
enltcs greatly conlribulcd to the victory of activists ove r moderates. Th e lhe-
ory had become a fashion that spontaneously aumc tcd many of the young
and Ihe cd ucawd in third world countries. By contrast, the moderates had
nothing to a fTer that could counte r the authority of Marxism-Len inism: lib-
cmlislU and reformism we re in theoretical retreat.. Aside li'olll the failures of
lh e imperial government, the era fa vored Marxist-Leninist activisL<;.
· T~lC absence ora cred ible alternative could not bU I present the modenllcs
:\s disguised d efe nders of the status quo. Th e radicals had no trouble in say-
I,ng that, though moderates spoke of change, what they oO'ered was no dif-
ferent frO m the usual tired liberalism, which had so dramati cally failed
c]sewh . . . .
ele In th e devclopll1g world. Th e fa ct that many restore rs were
An){:rican Fi eld Service re turnees leant c redibility to the acclIsation that they
Were propagandists of the American way of life. And since the U.S . govcrn-
nlent was a staunch supporter of the impe rial regime, th e elllh usiasm of
these fanner American Field Service returnees for Am erican liberalism
appeared to be a t variance with th eir sta nd against the imperial regime. For
Studen L.~ fi ghting the imperial regime, any allegiance to th e system that sup-
POrted Haile ScJassie was simply contradictOry and unacceptable.
A !n.yor strength of the radicals thlls came from the llalLJfe of their ideol-
ogy, which advocated neithe r the pursui t o f compro mise nor a wait-and-see
altitUde
· .
0 II t 1l e cantnl!)', as a nI(I·Ica 1 OppOSition ... , It conslan 11 y put stll{1e nts
1;1 ;\ position of confrontation with the hated regim e. As such , it appeared as
t le .onl)' genuine a nd sincere opposition, as the o nly stand detennined to
achieve .so met I llng. . I n a d CI·Itlon
. to .Incu I ·
catrng a com I · moo(I .lI'ltO t Il e
}atLve
~lUde n t body, Marxism-Le nillism armed stude nts with a clear goal: to light
Ilol.h the imperial regime and its imperialist allies. It also provided th e ideo-
.oglca l and conceptual fnunework by whic h stude nts and the regime
',IPI~eared absohltd)' polarized, just as it charted a confident COLlrse of
:ocloeco nomi c development. Not only was Malxism-Leninism in great
bogue, but also, as any doctrine propelled by social messianism, it inspired a
, old and dedicated activism. On lOp of supplying a powe rful tool of social
,lllalysis ' its· meSSlalllC . . 1'II:11 e(1 10
. . .msplrallon C II
owcrs Wit . I1 a sense 0 r miSSion
.. I·k I 'e
~ol Other sodal theory could. This sense of mission largely accounts for the
a dness of activist stlidenL~. Whe re moderates hesit<Lte, radi cals arc ready La
1~.a,Y any price, make an)' sacrifice for their cause, including the ultimate solc-
II IcC '.<l' llC1 tllS
I·
d egree o f commitment has a rnagn c uc .
powe r on stude nts.
· ~nllkc lhe absolutely commiued activists, the moderates viewed political
dCllon
c. I '\S on e acuvny
,. . . among 01.1l eI'S. Not b· . 1c-m111(
c mg as slllg . IC(1 as t I Ie nl(I·I-
e" s, ."'ho had become professional rcvolutionari es, the mode ratcs avoided a
1'1Ol1l1J1ll0LIS rIgll; I
nor were they wIlhng . .
to lISC any means 10 triumph. .

s laugh they unde rstood the need to fi ght the radica ls, they did not wage a
}'S lelllalic
• ,'\nd sustam . e d struggIc. TI lClr . .IIWO 1vement was .intermittent,
• . all(I
3\:! nil' m.'tt' of $llldtml /tmlirafism ill Ellliot/i(1

so lacked tile methodical quality of the fildicals' drorL~o One rC:I$O II the rad-
icals re took the leade rship of the swden t IIn ion alkr bei ng defeaLCd ill the
1968 election was their sheer detennination. According to Makonncn , once
that election was O\'er, moder.lIes returned to their usual activily.~1 Their
cJeCtOl<l1 victol), was t.btl" "h orl-Iived b('cau"c a progr,1Il1 of cO~l" tallt ani\~lY
:tinlcd 1\1 dislodging the mdica ls from ,Ill posilions of leade rship was not fo l-
lowed, The lack of fo llow-up allowed the mdicals to stage thcir comeback
and reg<,in con trol of the movement.
To sum up, the viClOry or lhe r.lClicals over th e mock-rates, which rt'sultt'd
in Ihc con\,l.' I'Sion of many ,tlldenl.., 10 :\('1ivi"nl , ranll(ll Ill' c)(pl:lil ll.'d wil hm lt
It ' l' l'll! II " "i:l~'" ill~pi t \',1 h ), ! I,,' Mal·x!.!!- I ...·' dlli~1 £Iou I lou' 1, ..l·1I , ' 1" It,,· (')cI~'1l t
that tht: t.:l llh\l ~i;IS Ill loslelecl dedicatioll, si ngle-lllilldedlless, and orgalll'l:l-
tional ability, it is an essenti.al compon e llt of victory alongsidc sociopolitical
condiuons, Add to this the fact that the university was in no position to pro-
vide any crit ical lools by which slude nt s could tcmpel' their c nthu'iiasm for
Mal XiS11l-l.l' llillisll1, Th(' «()1llpkl{' ahSt'IICl' or fret'dum of expression pre-
ve n ted th e p rofessors 1'1' 0 111 e ngagin g in a Cr1lical dialo).{ue with till.' swd en ls,
Gr'l1lting ;IC ldt;mlc lreedom w;,s, huwl'vel', ill lht' ItHlg-tcl'm intcrl'~1 01 the
gO\'el'lllll t'lil. \Vhell idcas arl' ali t in thc open and debated, modcf'; llion ;lIld
common Sl'nSe can hope to prc''::,il. as students become exposcd to the pros
and CO li S of any controversial theol)" Hut when a thcOl,), is bann ed , as was
Marxism-Leninism , in addition to having free publicit), and drawing the
aumcuon of th e forbidden fruit, it lakc~ the c hal~.lc tcr of' being true \"ilhOlil
an)' examination of its act ual lll e riL~. II' it is banlled, so stlldenl.~ say, il IIlllst
be truco

Cu ltllwl Unorlhodoxy "nd Rcvolut ionlsm

We havc a lread y established thallcadership by hel'etical eli tes is <I delining
characterist ic of social I·evolution s. An accOunt of social revohlti{lns n'mllin~
, i1 1h'l-l llI11 )' dclkienl if il dnl.'~ not ghl' ;111 ill,>ighl inlo tIle f;ICloi'S tllal producl'
~\lch kind HI clites. This study has already alluded 10 the prcsence of an
unorlh oclox eli tc in prcrcvolution:lI,), Ethiopia Ihrough lise of t.!1l: LCllinist
H
tcrm Hprofcssional rc VOlllliolll.lIoics : it also has referred to lh-eir uncomlllon
dedication.
What defines such clites is the eccentricity of their values and beliers, Thi.,
char.lc tcristic isolates them from the rest of the society umil lingedng social
dissatisf;ICI,ions give thcm the opportuni ty to caSl the social fhlstt~l lion in
ll' l'ms of tllcir c ultll!':11 ('CCenll'idIY. \Vhcn they sucCt..'cd ill scili n g the 0PPOI'-
tunilY, Ihesc clitcs rise to the leildership of 'ioci:11 prolesLS, To surdy I'cvolu-
tions is thus 1.0 follow Hsparks across national borders, carried by small
group!> and idios),ncmtic individuals who cremer! an inccndial)' legacy of
idcas,"1.iI.1 The process of social revolulion ('volves as small grOllps composed

----------------------~~
 'I11~ Rist' of Slut/rill 1l(lt/im/iSII/ ill Elhio/Jia 33

of ecce ntric personalities bem on secrecy and conspir,llorial behavior pr()-o

gressivcly expand their sway. The case of Ethiopia re produced this general
panern: we saw the appeamllce ofa radical group named "Crocodile" whose
c.S.~cntial characteristics were secrecy, sillgle-m inde dness, and complete devo-
tion t,o th e C<lIlSe or the revolution. We also roll owed how Ethi opia n .~ocia l
condit.ions and the rcpressi\'e policy or the gove rnment COlllbined to propel
the radicals to th e leadership or the studen t movement to the detriment or
the lllodermes.
To ull{krlinl' the imponallce or Lhe: notioll or ullorthodox CIiLC, it is
10 di~("H~~ an ar'lick COlllpa"ing Erhiopian alld Ncpa!es(.· slu{k",.~.
IIlStrilCli v('
The .""h", ,~ or IIll' Sllld)" 1'(.'1(' 1' ..-",·t,n (OIHI I.o., is D. 1 JlI )"'~' II,', ' ~tt ikit lg Si "l_
ilar·ilies betwee n I::lhiopia :uld Nepal and theh· r·cspcclivc student move-
menlS. They also detect differences due essentially to Ethiopian studenlS
being mare n\dical th an Nepalese SLUde nts. Whil e Ethiopian students were
cornmilled LO the violenl overthrow o r the monarchy and lhe cswblishmcnt
or sociali ~lIl , "dllling the sallle period, stude nls ill Nepal cOllsist(' lltly sup...
poned the ll)otl;'lr·chy,H6t The sUlci), attempts to explaill tllis m;~or cliflcn.:ncc.
Let liS b(~gill b)' e~l: 'hti s hin g that student,. in Nepal and Elhiopia indeed
raced l:Iim ilar l:Iociopolilical cOllditions. Tnlditionnl autOCI";ltic regimes led b),
conservative monarchs exercising absolute power rul ed both countri es. The
ideological appaJ"alll~es justifying the exercise o f absolute power in both
countries were also cOlllparnble ill that they advocated the. fllsion of the
political and the sacred: "In Eth iopia and Nepal, monarchical authority is
founded on a long history of rule b)' ,·o),al r."1lllilie:s ;'Ind myths of divine
authority. The Elhiopian Ol"lhodox Church aflirtns the divine nalure oj"
imperia l authorilY. In Nepal. the king is considered a reincarnarion of the
Ilinelu god Vishnll. ~62 Moreover, both countries were not subject to pro-
longe d colonial rule; nor did tlley recci\<{' massive ,u nOllnts of foreign invest...
ment. As a result, they were overwhelmingly nlt"l, n0I11[ter<lt<::, and poor.
Simil'lrities arc found in lhe educational s)'~tC!llS ;.s well. To 11";..il1 indigenolls
tcchllical, professioll:LI, ;Llld 'IdllliniS I.~,t.ive cadr·es, ho!h COltn u·ics b",ve great
importance to modern education, which the), tried to develop b)' appealing
to expatriate academic raculties.
I low, th en, could so similar socia l and political conditions lead to such dis·
simi lar stllrJcm :tnillld('s? Why did Ethiopian Sllld cnts challenge the legiti-
macy or lhe lllon;u-chy and opt for socialism, while Nepalese students
expressed simila r discont.ents but fe ll short of questioning rhe monarchy's
legitimac)" limiting Iheir demands to the cstilblishmenl. of a constitutional
tTlon;ll·ch)'? To qllote Koehn and I la),es: "What accounts ror such divcrgent
perceptions orl'egime legitimacy in simi];\!' politics? Existential conditions or
poverty, illiteracy, and vast socia l and economic inequities are found in both
Nepal and Ethiopia d u ring the period unde r investigation. Yet, only
Ethiopian students attribute these cOl1{litions to the political sy~tcm."u~

..
3-1 n,l' Iiisl' of SIIIIII'III !lmlimliwl il' J~'/lIinJli{j

To explain th e di~parity in mdicalilation, th e authors I'e\'ie\" the reaction"

of th e two .'egillles to student o pposition, Thus, unlike the Ethiopian gov-
ernment. which opted for conlinllcd repression. the Nepa lese govel'llllle ll t
sh owed an Milccolllmodalh e pauern of po litical conlrol.H(,I In addition to
allowing students to demonstratc and prOtest, it agreed in principle \\'ith
some of th eir dem:tnlb. such as the esmblish ment of a free press. the
reforl11 o f the educa tional system, and the removal uf th e ban on politi-
cal panics, AlIot!wr imp(Jrtant difTerence was the lack of marginali/(.'d
ethnic or religious groups: Mthe discontent with e thnic. religious. or regi-
(}Iml group progress manifested by some Ethiopian students was ItOt an issue
in Nepal.M(o.') Lastly. owi n g to the g rea ter isolation of the count ry. Nepalese
stucle nts were not as ('X posed lO 1~ldical ideologies as Ethiopian stllc\ellts
wer(·.
Are th e me ntioned di Ocrences really enough to ex plain th e greate l' n .d i-
ca li1.<ltioll of Ethiopian studen ts? Surely, the less rep ressive reaction of the
Nepa lese gove rnment did nOl fa vor the md icals. The authors allude to th e
appe;II~ t1lc e ,IIl10ng Nepalese sllIde nts of' radical grou ps that tri ed to ass umc
th e leadersh ip o f a nationwide strike of students over reform i ~S \1 CS, DlI1'1n g
the strike . Mi(kological and rcvollll iomu-y slogans werc employed to ,nl
unpreced e ntcd extcl lt. Vio lent p o li ce reaction t,o st.ude nt proces~ions
n::su ltcd in many arrest~ and a ne l" lc"d of student l<tdicali1.atioll ,"M IIO\\'e"er.
foll owin g th is escalat io n . somcth ing th at never happen cd in Ethiopia occurred
in Nepal : the student mOVemen t divided and, mo~t of a1l. "whe n revoilltion-
:11)' slog:tns beg;.111 to ap p ear. mod e rate stude nts withdrcw support for the
strike. "67 \'\'c lIIust llndel''ltand what causcd the withelmwal of tin: Illodcmtcs'
support and \\'h y they here able to break up the student movcmen t. Tlmt
th e Nepalese gove rnment was k ss re preSSive is not sufficie nt calise. si n ce
the withdnl\",,1 of the m otlenll cs' suppOrt Occurred at a time of heighte ned
con fro ntation ,
Thc withdl"awal o f the Nepalese moder'ates expressed the il" com mittlle nl
lO refoJ'lllism. 11\:11 is, th e ir enduring confide n ce in th e a\~lilability of
reformist solutio ns to the existing social p roblems. hOI,'c\'er seve re the}' may
be, What we need to understand is why modcnltion did not prcvail among
Ethiopian students, For We ca nnot deduce a r..·larxist-Leninis t type of 1~ldi­
Cilli l.alion {rom the exi)otencc of gnwe econ omic, ethnic. and rdigiolls proh-
lems in Ethiopia. )oincc stud e nts in countries with coru pamblc problems did
not go throug h a similar id cological metamorphosis, The mistake is to
aSS um e that th e m:yori ty of the stude nts became radicalized because d eli n itt.:
and se rio ••s probl e ms ex isted. The problcm must be state d o lil e rwise. Ibdie:!l
g roups may ex ist a lw'Iys and <l1lY""hc re: the questio n is unde r what conditions
~Io su ch gl'ou ps assllme the leadership 0 1" stude nt protest~. thereby m{\ic,liit-
\Ilg t~le moveme nt. Radical groups existed in Nepal, but th e cO lldiliol\';
a llowlIlg th e m to take up the leaders hip never completely d eveloped. As
 Tht: UisP oj SIIItII'III Natiic(J(islII ;'1 flliiollifl 35

Koehn and I laycs noted, the m,~orily of students rt:fused 10 follow the
COurse advocated by radical students .
. What else could explain the attitude of the rm~o rity but the refusal to ques+
tlon the tl'mlitional lcgitimilcy of the monarchy? Despi te the accumulation of
social problems, there was a threshold that the n1<~ol'ity of Nepalese students
refused to cross. [nstCOId offavoring the radicOlls, tht; escOllat ion of the connict
with the government set o lTthe a larm of an irreparahle polarization that most
Nepalt;se students rejected. The disparity between Eth iopian and Nep'llese
students remains unexplaint;d so long as \,'e do not know why Nepa lese Slll-
denL~ saw boundaries where Ethiopian swdellts S<'lW none.
In whichel'e r \V<ly we consider the problem, the explanation for the estab-
lishment of boundaries points to the cultural disposition of Nepalese stu-
dents. HOwcver appalling socia l conditions may have bcen, there never
develo ped a large mo\'emelll of cultural heterodoxy in Nepal. Accordingly,
the conflict was confi n ed to social issues; it did nOt spill O\'er LO the realm of
values and beliefs. Had it do n e so, the need for total change '''ould have dis-
placed reformism. All the more reason 10 pose the problem in cultural terms
is Koeh n and Hayes's in sistence that the main safeguard against the radiC<lI-
ization of Nepalese sLU dellls was their corn m iunelll to the sacred legitimacy
of the monarchy. Nepalese swdents refused the path of mciicalization
because of their religious belief.
In Ethiopia, too, so long as th e religiollsjuslification of the monarchy pre-
vailed, people bbmecl, not the emperor, but 11is ent,ourage. Th~e I'eligiousjus+
lification soon declined in Ethiopia, while it pe rsisted in Nepal. Wh}'? No
social or pOlitical reasons can fully explain the decli n e since they were more
or less sim ila r in both coun tries. \Vhat then remains but th e cullllJ<11 di ffer-
ence? Pllt otherwise, the decline of the monarch y's religious undt;rpinni n g
in Eth iopia was the prod uct ofa c h ange thal occurred at the cultural level.
So Slated, the problem amou nts w asking why I linduism resisted belief than
Christian it}', given that. Ethiop ia's revolutionary students came predomi-
!lamly from Orthodox Christian farnilit;s.
The reason for the weake r resistance o f Ethiopian cul1un.:: is not. hard to
find: because ofa common C h ristia n background with the West, Et hiopian
students were more receptive to \Veste rn ideas, and by extension to
Marxism, tha n were Ncpillese studen ts. ""estern st:l tCme n L<; and accomplisll-
menL<; did n ot appear as detrimental to Ethiopian identity. Not so with the
Nepalese: bei n g non-Ch ristians, attachment to H induism meant the derense
of their identity. While for Ethiopian stude n ts th e Wt;st appeared as a devel-
oped fonn ofwh at th ey are, as th eir future, 1'01' Nepalese students it meant
self-denial. l ienee the stronger attachment of Nepa kse students to
Ilindubm, as opposed to the "tradable" religion of Ethiopian students.
For modern-educalCd Eth iopians, the Wt;st had already sh own the right
path by overthrowing monarchies, establishing republics, and iffstiwung the
36 Tilt' m~~ of Siulient UmfimlislII ill i':lhio/,i(1

separ'i ltion of church and state while re maining ostensibly C hristian. This is
to say that the introduction of \-Vestern echlCiJt ion could n ot have the same
impact on Nepalese and Eth iopian students. While in Nepal it provoked a
reaction leading lO cultural conservatism a.~ a means of defending identity.
in Ethiopia it stimulated cullllral disaffec tion because th e common Christian
background could not but ponray the West ,IS the future of backward
Ethio pia. There developed a cullll nil c hasm between th e modern eduCilled
elite and the tmditional ruling ciite the consequence of which \\';IS the gath -
ering of conditions favorable to extreme polari7~ltio n. The cultural divorce
with the traditional elite left the rising elite in a state of menlal wandering
that made it I'ulnenlble to the discourse of the radicals. With the multiplica-
tion of social problems and the intensification of repression, nothing was left
that could coullter the templation of a total shake up.
Add to this tcmptation the Ethiopian predisposition to messianism inher-
ited from th e Christian legacy. A~ will be amply shown in chapter 6. llindu
culture is less receptive to r'ldical icleolob,),. Because ildoes not place a grea t
tension betwee n the mundane and the otherworldly, H induism does not
incite millenarian or utopian thinking. By contrast, the Christian belief more
sharply distinguishes the temporal a nd thc otherworldly. It hopes 10 resolve
the tension when the advent of the kingdom of God brings about the final
triumph of justice and freedom. The <lffinity that so many studies undersco re
between milknarian thinking and rcvoIUlio lla1"), ideologies of the Marxist
type sho\lld ente r into the explanation of the dispal-ity between Ethiopian
and Ne paksc students. Th c Ethiopia n cu ltural predisposition to rc\'oliition-
<It")' ideolob,), is ilil imponantfllctor in the ex planation n ot only of the emcr-
gence of \',ulical groups but also of their grealcr ability-compared to
Nepalese radicals-to aUnlct many fo llowers and assumc the leadership of
the student movement. Not thai the m .~ority of swclcnts really became mel-
ical, nuher radical groups cou ld easily touch a sensitive cord that. fllcili\:'lled
their r ise LO leadership.
The upcoming c h apters will Sl\ldy the cu ltural conditions that led to the
appearance of un orthodox groups ,mel thc concrete process lhat facilitated
their idco logic<ll hegemony O\'er the Eth iopian educated elite. The process
was complex, involving various mental Outcomes in combiml1ion with defi-
nite so<."iopolitical parameters. The next chapte r assesses the decp hnplic<l-
tions of the introduction 01" Vlesleun education in Ethiopia.