The Sidama people are the Cushitic language speaking indigenous inhabitants of northeast Africa closely related to Oromo, Somali, Beja, Afar, Agew, Hadiya, and several other Cushite in the region. Since the beginning of the recorded history of human beings in the region dating back to 10,000 years, the Later Stone Age and the last Upper Paleolithic Period, the Cushitic people have been an indigenous people of northeast Africa, occupying territories encompassing today's southern Egypt, northern Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Cushitic civilization of northeast Africa predates the ancient Egyptian civilization. The Sidama history, culture and political economy epitomizes this largely forgotten ancient African civilization.

The Sidama people fought hard to achieve self-determination. The struggle claimed thousands of lives during armed struggle in the Derg Marxist regime and beyond, including the non-violent struggle. The larger and more well-organized part of the Sidama people’s freedom struggle was the armed struggle under the umbrella of the Sidama Liberation Movement (SLM). The Sidama people contributed the lion’s portion to remove the fascist suppressive regime of Derg that committed war crimes and mass murder in Ethiopia. The Sidama people’s heroism was unsung, though fought in a furious armed struggle under SLM against the military regime until its fall in 1991. Thus, thousands of SLM freedom fighters sacrificed their lives and blood during that armed struggle to regain the self-administration for the Sidama people. That decisive sacrificial struggle helped the Sidama nation to decide by referendum in 2019 to become the regional state. The Sidama history, culture, and language were neglected and underdeveloped. The new generation may need to maintain and watch closely the dearly begotten state of Sidama to prevent bias and corruption.

Ethiopia s unique system of ethnic-based federalism claims to minimise conflict by organising political power along ethnic lines. This empirical study shows that the system eases conflict at some levels but also sharpens inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic divides on the ground.

This book presents a timely review of the relations between the formal and customary justice systems in Ethiopia, and offers recommendations for legal reform. The book provides cases studies from all the Region of Ethiopia based on field research on the working of customary dispute resolution (CDR) institutions, their mandates, compositions, procedures and processes. The cases studies also document considerable unofficial linkages with the state judicial system, and consider the advantages as well as the limitations of customary institutions with respect to national and international law. The editor's introduction reviews the history of state law and its relations with customary law, summarises the main findings by region as well as as on inter-ethnic issues, and draws conclusions about social and legal structures, principles of organization, cultural concepts and areas, and judicial processes. The introduction also addresses the questions of inclusion and exclusion on the basis of gerontocratic power, gender, age and marginalised status, and the gradual as well as remarkable recent transformations of CDR institutions. The editor's conclusion reviews the characteristics, advantages and limitations of CDR institutions. A strong case is made for greater recognition of customary systems and better alliance with state justice, while safeguarding individual and minority rights. The editors suggest that the current context of greater decentralization opens up opportunities for pratical collaboration between the systems by promoting legal pluralism and reform, thereby enhancing local level justice delivery. The editors conclude by proposing a range of options for more meaningful partnership for consideration by policy makers, the legal profession and other stakeholders. In memory of Aberra Jembere and Dinsa Lepisa. Cover: Elders at peace ceremony in Arbore, 1993.

An historical overview of Ethiopia's transformation from a multicultural empire into a modern nation state. Provides the gist of one scholar's knowledge of this country acquired over several decades. The author of numerous works on Ethiopia, Markakis presents here an overarching, concise historical profile of a momentous effort to integrate a multicultural empire into a modern nation state. The concept of nation state formation provides the analytical framework within which this process unfolds and the changes of direction it takes under different regimes, as well as a standard for assessing its progress and shortcomings at each stage. Over a century old, the process is still far from completion and its ultimate success is far from certain. In the author's view, there are two majorobstacles that need to be overcome, two frontiers that need to be crossed to reach the desired goal. The first is the monopoly of power inherited from the empire builders and zealously guarded ever since by a ruling class of Abyssinian origin. The descendants of the people subjugated by the empire builders remain excluded from power, a handicap that breeds political instability and violent conflict. The second frontier is the arid lowlands on the margins of the state, where the process of integration has not yet reached, and where resistance to it is greatest. Until this frontier is crossed, the Ethiopian state will not have the secure borders that a mature nation state requires. John Markakis is a political historian who has devoted a professional lifetime to the study of Ethiopia and its neighbours in the Horn of Africa. He has published several books and many articles on this area.

The ethnography of the Sidaama people of southern Ethiopia by A. E. Jensen, Elisabeth Pauli and Helmut Straube goes back to their research expedition to Sidaama in 1954/55. Following their research trip, they drafted the present work, which they did not publish. It is a classic ethnography divided into the following chapters: Land and people, social life, religious life, course of life, and oral traditions. The ethnography is illustrated by photographs from the archives of the Frobenius Institute.

Democracy is a concept reflecting European philosophies, struggles and concerns. Many Ethiopian ethnic groups have traditions which may offer more satisfactory and culturally acceptable foundations for a “sovereignty of the people” through time-honored ways of voicing political ideas, ironic observations and vital interests. In line with modern urban life Ethiopians also organize and express their interests in non-governmental organizations, the independent press and advocacy groups representing political and social alternatives. The contributors to this book analyze the democratic potential of these movements and practices, their ability to give a voice to the view from below and their potential contribution to a more genuine participation by the majority of Ethiopians in democratic decision making and bringing the sovereignty of the people a step closer to reality.