Book Description

This book is the inside story of the Ethiopian resettlement programme, carried out in the mid-1980s by the Ethiopian government amid fierce international controversy. It relies on the views of the settlers themselves, and is based on an in-depth study carried out by an anthropologist who lived in a resettlement village. Alula Pankhurst dispels current myths about resettlement; while showing the importance of famine and coercion, he highlights social factors in the mosaic of settlers' motivation. He documents the attempt to institute a collectivist model of agriculture and analyses the reasons for its failure. He also examines the effects of Ethiopia's recent economic liberalisation and the impact of aid agencies. The book addresses an increasing Third World phenomenon: state organised relocation. It is a major contribution to the literature on mass-migration and on refugees. By focusing on the interaction between people and the state, it also reassesses a fundamental development problem: the gulf between local and national priorities. Accessible and thought-provoking, Resettlement and famine in Ethiopia will be of interest to anthropologists, students of development studies, and practitioners, and all those concerned by famine, forced migration and socialist attempts to transform societies.