Citizens, Civil Society, and Activism under the EPRDF Regime in Ethiopia considers how citizens and civil society expressed their interests and exerted their agency in an authoritarian setting. Focusing on the EPRDF regime over a period of three decades up to 2019, the book explores civic activism in Ethiopia, presenting diverse examples of how citizens have (re)shaped the country. 

Challenging state-centric readings of state-society relations under EPRDF governance, this collection provides a counternarrative that emphasizes the role and agency of citizens and civil society. The contributing authors draw on a heuristic analytical framework that examines different types of interactions between civil society and state actors (co-optation, co-operation, coexistence, and contestation) and captures the ways in which civil society actors make their voices heard.

At a time when authoritarian forms of governance are increasingly prevalent across the world, learn how this critically important collection offers insight into how citizens claim their agency and challenge state power in apparently top-down contexts.

The session will be conducted in English

Moderated by:

• Dr. Logan Cochrane, Associate Professor at the College of Public Policy

Contributing Authors:

• Dr. Hanna Lemma, Founder of Addis Powerhouse
• Dr. Kiya Gezahegne, Assistant Professor, Social Anthropology, Addis Ababa University
• Mr. Abduletif Kedir, Idris PhD Candidate, Max Plank Institute for Social Anthropology; Lecturer, Center for Human Rights, Addis Ababa University
• Dr. Kenneth Maes, Associate Professor, Director, Applied Anthropology Graduate Program, School of Language, Culture & Society, Oregon State University

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