Examines war and the impact of warfare on identity formation in Ethiopia. Images of war, narratives of suffering and notions of ethnicity are intrinsically linked to Western perceptions of Africa. Filtered through a mostly international media the information of African wars is confined to narrow categories of explanation emerging from and adapted to a Western history and political culture. This book aims at reversing this process; to look at war and suffering from the point of view of those who fight it and suffer through it. Indoing so it reveals that the simplistic models explaining contemporary wars in Africa which are reproduced in a Western discourse are basically false. This book examines the understanding of war and the impact of warfare onthe formation and conceptualisation of identities in Ethiopia. Building on historical trajectories of enemy images, the recent Eritean-Ethiopian war [1998-2000] is used as an empirical backdrop to explore war's formative impact, by analysing politics of identity and shifting perceptions of enemies and allies. KJETIL TRONVOLL is Professor in Human Rights, Peace and Conflict Studies at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo. Hisother publications include Brothers at War: Making Sense of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War (co-author; James Currey/Ohio University Press, 2000) and The Ethiopian Red Terror Trials: Transitional Justice Challenged (co-editor; James Currey 2009) .

About the Author
KJETIL TRONVOLL is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Bjorknes University College, Director of Oslo Analytica policy research and advisory company, and a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Oslo. His books include, with Daniel R. Mekonnen, The African Garrison State: Human Rights & Political Development in Eritrea (2017).

Reviews
Offers a methodical, original, and highly informed account of the contested political identities that have marked Africa's second most populous country in the past two decades. [...] This book deserves the attention of all students of contemporary Ethiopian (and Eritrean) politics. Moreover, it provides critical insights for scholars interested in the ethnography of war, nationalism, and border studies in Africa. * AFRICAN AFFAIRS *
An informative and essential read for anyone wishing to understand the dynamics of both war and its aftermath (the peace) in Ethiopia. * AFRICAN STUDIES BULLETIN *
Provides impressive ethnographic illustration of the shifting notions of identity provoked by the war with Eritrea. It also casts a searching light on the nature of the Ethiopian regime. * INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS *
This book represents yet another fine contribution to the study of the politics of Ethiopia by Kjetil Tronvoll. * AFRICAN STUDIES REVIEW *
An informative and essential read for anyone wishing to understand the dynamics of both war and its aftermath in Ethiopia. * LUCAS BULLETIN *
Detailed and well written. Recommended. * CHOICE *
exceptional depth ... coherent, well-written, and constantly stimulating. -- Professor Christopher Clapham
Tronvoll's historical reading of how old enemies become friends, and vice versa, is a worthy contribution to the still small but growing ethnographic literature on war. -- Professor Johan Pottier



Book Information
ISBN 9781847016126
Author Kjetil Tronvoll
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint James Currey
Publisher James Currey