The rise and fall of Marxism in Ethiopia: a critical analysis of emancipatory paradigms

The article identifies three factors that contributed to the failure of Marxist ideology as a paradigm of emancipation in Ethiopia. In a nation that is defined by a complex process of nation building and centuries of interdependence among different cultural backgrounds, Marxism was introduced as a revolutionary practice that promises a radical break with the past. Through an analysis of the historical context within which such an ideology was introduced in the Ethiopian context, it will be argued that Marxism failed to provide an alternative epistemic foundation for an emancipatory practice since it was trapped under an elitist thinking, was developed as a conception of instrumental modernization that is antithetical to existing values and also constituted a utopian ideal that was not grounded in a proper historical consciousness. With the recognition that Marxism failed to serve as a foundation of an emancipatory practice in Ethiopian soil, there is a need to look for a new paradigm of emancipation that is grounded in a social ontology that is cognizant of the complex history and the relations of interdependence that gave birth to Ethiopia's contemporary predicaments and has the capacity of hosting a public sphere that can develop dialogical encounters.