Beyond Development: Urbanization, Assimilation, and the Uprooting of the Oromo in Ethiopia
Beyond Development: Urbanization, Assimilation, and the Uprooting of the Oromo in Ethiopia In the wake of the new Ethiopian government’s policies and narratives concerning language, culture, education, land administration, state structure, and urbanization, there is growing concern that such developments equate to the uprooting and assimilation of Indigenous peoples. Projects like the planned mega airport city at Warra Aabbu and the Gadaa Special Economic Zone Smart City are no exception. On the contrary, these mega projects may pose even greater threats to local languages, cultures, and identities. They appear to carry covert agendas aimed at eroding Oromo unity and dismantling Oromia’s cohesive and historically grounded statehood at the heart of Ethiopia. Furthermore, it is worth noting that these projects are unfolding in the context of broader government narratives that undermine local languages, cultural institutions, and indigenous governance systems such as the Gadaa syste...