'Dreams Don’t Come True in Eritrea': Anomie and Family Disintegration Due to the Structural Militarization of Society

Hirt, Nicole

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1541908

Cited by 10 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…He himself did national service for four years and ultimately could not take it any longer, not just because his 'salary' did not allow him to properly care for his wife and two children, but equally because 'there was no right to speak or say what you think, ever' (I3). This is in line with findings from a study by Hirt inside Eritrea, where she argues that government demands contradict not only personal aspirations but equally traditional norms and values in such a way that a 'normal' life is impossible in present-day Eritrea (Hirt 2010). At the same time very few among those I spoke to had any ambition to become politically active, not because they feared repercussions but because they simply wanted a 'normal' life and were not interested in politics of any kind.…”

Section: Review Of African Political Economysupporting

confidence: 86%

“…In reality the WYDC has become the indefinite supplier of cheap labour to enterprises owned by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), the sole ruling party (see Healy 2007, Hughes 2004, Mehreteab 2007. It is this campaign that is perceived to have caused the mass exodus of youth (Hirt 2010). I thus decided to conduct fieldwork among Eritrean refugees in Tel Aviv in order to get a better understanding of what made them leave.…”

Section: Müllermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While a percentage might return to their villages and work the land as suggested by some (see Hirt 2010), for many no viable economic alternatives exist. Government officials acknowledge that a major grievance of the country's youth is this lack of a future perspective combined with the low standard of living that the national service 'wage' -in reality no more than a small handout -condemns them to.…”

Section: Müllermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The contentious issue for many of those who flee is not a rejection of government demands per se, but of demands that have become too inhibiting and leave no room for any form of life perceived as desirable (Hirt 2010). This general state of affairs is summarised well in the following joke that does the rounds in Asmara:…”

Section: Müllermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research that has been carried out relies in various ways on informal arrangements (see Hirt 2010, Müller 2008, Reid 2009). This difficulty is compounded by an Eritrean studies scholarly community, prominent members of which regard anybody still willing to visit Eritrea or who has in fact been given a visa as a 'traitor', as somebody who must in some way do the government's bidding.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond the siege state – tracing hybridity during a recent visit to Eritrea

Müller

2012

Review of African Political Economy

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This article offers an alternative reading of the current situation in Eritrea that goes beyond the narrative of dictatorship and oppression. Based on recent fieldwork in Eritrea and among Eritrean refugees in Tel Aviv, it offers a hybrid interpretation of developments within Eritrea. The article argues that a transition process instigated by the current leadership is still possible. At the same time rising inequalities and other dynamics may ultimately jeopardise any such transition. More generally important sections of the population have become suspicious of grand political projects, but rather focus on the microcosms of potentially intangible transformations from within.[Au de-là de l'état de siège -retracer le contexte pragmatique tel constaté lors d'une récente visite en É rythrée.] Cet article propose une lecture alternative de la situation actuelle en É rythrée qui va au-delà du récit de la dictature et de l'oppression. Basé sur des travaux récents en É rythrée et parmi les réfugiés érythréens à Tel Aviv, il offre une interprétation mitigée des développements au sein de l'É rythrée. L'article fait valoir que le processus de transition initié par la direction actuelle est encore possible. Dans le même temps, les inégalités croissantes et d'autres dynamiques peuvent même menacer une telle transition. Plus généralement, d'importants groupements d'individus au sein de la population deviennent méfiants à l'égard des grands projets politiques, et se concentrent plutôt sur les microcosmes de transformations potentiellement incorprels de l'intérieur.

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Section: Review Of African Political Economysupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Müllermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Müllermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Müllermentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Beyond the siege state – tracing hybridity during a recent visit to Eritrea

Müller

2012

Review of African Political Economy

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Biopolitics, militarism and development: Eritrea in the twenty-first century

Mekonnen¹

2013

Review of African Political Economy

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“It seemed like a punishment”: Teacher transfers, hollow nationalism, and the intimate state in Eritrea

Riggan¹

2013

American Ethnologist

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A B S T R A C TDiscourses of the punishing state that circulated in Eritrea at a time when the government had become increasingly coercive were articulated especially clearly in debates over teacher transfers. Teachers imagined the state on the basis of their intimate encounters with its bureaucrats, who were thought of as capable of punishing, manipulating, or being manipulated. In a country once noted for the effervescent, revolutionary celebration of the state's capacity to defend and develop the nation, thinking of the state as pernicious challenged the core tenets of Eritrean nationalism but left intact lingering fantasies of state fairness. By examining the complexity of debates about teacher transfers, I uncover a multifaceted commentary on government power, a dialogue over the nature and meaning of the notion of duty to the nation, and a reworked popular imaginary of the state. [nationalism, state, teachers, Eritrea, bureaucracy, intimacy, citizenship] I n the fall of 2004, in the town of Assab, Eritrea, teachers and students as well as their families and neighbors were anxiously awaiting news about teacher transfers to more remote towns and villages in the Southern Red Sea region, where Assab is located. For weeks, in every house, teashop, and bar I visited, this was the topic of conversation. That fall, several new schools were being opened in the sparsely populated region, and a much larger number of teachers than ever before were being transferred to remote posts. The transfers loomed large in everyone's minds, evoking the specter of a government capable of relocating citizen bodies at will without regard for their well-being or wishes. The transfers were personally troubling to teachers, who would be separated from family for six months at a time or longer and who would have to live without running water and electricity. But, in addition to this sense of individual loss, discussions of transfers among those affected, directly and otherwise, described an increasingly pernicious relationship between government actors and citizens in a way that depicted the state as autocratic and uncaring.One transfer case was particularly controversial. As soon as Abraham, a young university-aged, "national service" science teacher heard that he was to be transferred to the village of Tio, he immediately left Assab and headed for the Eritrean capital, Asmara. 1 Before leaving, he made it clear that he was protesting his transfer, claiming that it was a punishment for having upset local Ministry of Education officials. He believed this punishment to be highly personal. Abraham also stated that his highly placed relatives in Asmara would intervene on his behalf. In a country noted for a lack of what many would term "corruption," Abraham was willing to use his personal connections to counteract what he understood to be a very personal form of punishment. 2 In Eritrea, a country controlled by an authoritarian regime, it was rumored that the government would not hesitate to arrest its citizens for much lesser infract...

show abstract

'Dreams Don’t Come True in Eritrea': Anomie and Family Disintegration Due to the Structural Militarization of Society

Cited by 10 publications

References 9 publications

Beyond the siege state – tracing hybridity during a recent visit to Eritrea

Beyond the siege state – tracing hybridity during a recent visit to Eritrea

Biopolitics, militarism and development: Eritrea in the twenty-first century

“It seemed like a punishment”: Teacher transfers, hollow nationalism, and the intimate state in Eritrea

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