The Anglo-Ethiopian Society
Lecture - Social Organisations and the Developmental State in Ethiopia
Camille Pellerin
Wednesday 11th May 2016
7:00pm, Room B102, Brunei Building, SOAS, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG - Public lecture (all welcome)
Research on the Ethiopian developmental state has commonly focused on the state as the primary subject of analysis. Yet, works on the classical cases of East Asian developmental states have long drawn attention to the importance of the relationship between state and society to understand the phenomenon at hand. Far from being completely autonomous from society, the success of these states has been found to depend on the kind of relationship they maintain with society, sometimes termed "embedded autonomy". In the case of Ethiopia however, not much is known about the respective positions that state actors and social organisations adopt towards each other and the various patterns of interactions that link actors from both spheres.
Addressing this gap in the literature, the speaker's research answers two key questions:
To do so, it maps and categorises different patterns of interaction between social organisations and the state in Ethiopia and analyses what factors influence the approach that social organisations adopt towards the state. The research is based on a comparative case study of three different types of social organisations in Ethiopia - Charities/Societies, Professional Associations, and Community Based Organisations - that feature diverging patterns of interaction with the state.
The talk will reflect on data collected during fieldwork in Ethiopia in 2015/16. The research design and methods, the theoretical framework of the research, as well as some of the key findings will be discussed.
Capacity at the venue is limited, so please reserve your place soon to avoid disappointment.