Etiopie a otázka národní identity: Přihlédnutí k ústavám z let 1931, 1955, 1987 a 1994
Jan Záhořík
Ethiopia and the question of the national identity: Taking account of the constitutions of the years 1931, 1955, 1987 and 1994 In last two decades, a public as well as academic discourse in Ethiopia has been largely influenced by redefinition of Ethiopia’s history which in the 1994 constitution gave broad rights to minorities and ethnic groups. Since that time, we usually speak about the so-called ethnic federalism as a specific political organization of the state where ethnicity is the main factor of mobilization and source of identification. Unfortunately, both the government and certain opposition groups including the diaspora contributed to an atmosphere of extremely politicized ethnicity. The aim of this study is to analyze the process of the formation of the contemporary Ethiopian state in three stages, from Imperial times through Socialism until ethnic federalism with special focus on the issue of ethnic and national identities. The main argument of the text is that the Ethiopian constitutions, which are used here as the main sources, dealing with national/ethnic identities and minority rights were all used or abused by consecutive governments in order to legitimize their rule while in reality the main principles of the constitutions were largely ill-treated.
