Meet Tadesse Asfaw: final-year PhD candidate

“Ethiopia is a multiethnic, heterogeneous society with many ethnic groups, and violent identity politics between three major groups,” Tadesse says. “My research aims to investigate how this kind of ethnic politics impacts state institutions, specifically the sovereignty of the state, the federal system, and the rule of law.”

The conflict and instability in Ethiopia stem from ethnic nationalism, which emerges when linguistic and cultural differences are politicised, promoting groups to mobilise against one another. This can lead to heated clashes, and – in Ethiopia’s case – years of civil unrest. Tadesse makes it clear that “Ethnicity is not the problem. I am talking about ethnic nationalism.”

“Tadesse’s thesis investigates one of the enduring practical questions of constitutional democracy: is it possible to establish an effective constitution in a divided society,” says Tadesse’s supervisor, Zim Nworka. “The findings from his research will contribute to debates about contemporary governance in Ethiopia and the prospects for constitutionalism in divided societies.”

In his thesis, Tadesse draws on the experiences of past multiethnic European empires, such as the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, and the Soviet Union. He explains that ethnic groups within these empires were geographically concentrated – leading to unrest and the eventual separation of the empires into nation states. Tadesse draws parallels between these European empires and contemporary Ethiopia, which is similarly multiethnic and has groups that are geographically concentrated. Of present-day Europe, Tadesse says, “We don’t have war in these countries, not because they are necessarily nice people, but because they are more-or-less homogenous societies.”

Tadesse believes that one path towards peace in Ethiopia might be a similar separation of the country into smaller nation states, with each dominant ethnic group having its own state. “Smaller countries [in Europe] has led to peace – they are able to cooperate, trade with each other. So my argument for Ethiopia would be to break up this state.” He concedes that the boundaries between these nation states would likely be settled by fighting. “Among the major [ethnic] groups, one group’s gain is considered a loss for the other, and they have overlapping territorial claims … Therefore, there is no possibility for these groups to reach an amicable solution. They will fight.” But this time, he believes the fighting would decide territorial borders, leading to peace in the same way as it has between nations like Greece and Turkey. “Conflicts around borders will be a short-term problem [compared to the ongoing unrest]. In the current situation, there’s just always conflict. One group dominates the state and marginalises others; there has been a cyclical shift of power and endless conflict among the major ethnic groups.”

Tadesse is currently writing his final chapter and hoping to submit his thesis in April/May next year. He faced challenges at the beginning of his candidature, with the time spent gaining ethics approval and conducting fieldwork and translation delaying his project by about 13 months. Since then, he has been coming to campus six days each week to work on his thesis. He acknowledged he has been quite hard on himself, saying “People are wise if they can find the balance between life, study and family – maybe I have been a bit harsh on myself because of the delay. But this balance can really help you.”

To aspiring PhD candidates, Tadesse says that passion for your subject is the most important thing, followed closely by perseverance. “They should be able to work on a project they really love. That’s very, very important … the most important driving factor or force for me is the passion – when you believe in the job you are doing, you will do it better.” His eyes light up as he speaks. “I think that’s very important, and persistence is very important. If you have persistence, the passion will carry you through.”