Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Officially recognised as an ethnic group, the Mao identity carries complex, sometimes contradictory meanings, from stigma to prestige. For some individuals, Mao signals descent from enslaved people; for others, non-slave ancestry. Examining the historical and political transformations of the Mao social identity in Western Ethiopia, the book challenges the assumption that ethnicity determines social position. It shows how local hierarchies shape the meaning and impact of social identities. Drawing on rich empirical data, it explores how Mao groups negotiate identity through politics, marriage and labour, and how these interpretations have interacted with regional and national changes over the past fifty years.
This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the lived realities of the Mao community against a backdrop of intricate ethnohistorical processes. It nicely demonstrates that Mao identity is not a fixed or purely ethnic category, but rather a social category constantly shaped by political transformations and internal hierarchies. Shauna LaTosky, University of British Columbia
Sophie Küspert-Rakotondrainy currently serves as Head of the Education Department in a city administration near Stuttgart, Germany. Her doctoral research was awarded the Bradbury Memorial Prize. She has published extensively on contested ethnic identities, language endangerment, language policy and social identity, and the lasting stigma of slavery in western Ethiopia.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Note on Citation of Egyptian Authors
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Mao in Begi: Historical Background
Chapter 3. The Struggle for Begi: Politics and Hierarchy Post-1991
Chapter 4. The Immateriality of Power: Maoness, Stigma and Prestige
Chapter 5. Marriage Strategies, Kinship and Family-Making
Chapter 6. Land and Labour: Working for and with Others
Chapter 7. Conclusion
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
References
Inde