Constructing citizens and subjects in eastern Ethiopia: identity formation during the British Military Administration

This article investigates the construction of citizens and subjects in eastern Ethiopia during the period of the British Military Administration from 1944 to 1954. It does so by examining processes of identity formation during this period. The article argues that when Britain administered parts of eastern Ethiopia during this period it entrenched customary authority, which became a focal point around which Ethiopian and British forms of domination collided in a bid to assert their authority. The contestation was about establishing hegemony over sections of the population by categorising them. The article demonstrates that current discourses on identification in eastern Ethiopia are not a post-1991 phenomenon, but are part of an ongoing historical process of negotiating identification. The article thus contributes to, and expands on recent literature that seeks a deeper understanding of ethnic federalism and the implications it will have on processes of identity formation in Ethiopia.