Laughing about Corruption in Ethiopian‐Chinese Encounters

Abstract

In Ethiopia, the growing Chinese presence has inspired lively debate, often with an edge of humor.Corruption is one of the recurring topics in amusing narratives that circulate on and off the Chinese-run building sites that have emerged across the Ethiopian landscape over the past two decades. While humorous corruption stories hint at the possibility of corruption and introduce the audience to the cultural codes of conduct, corrupt practices, equally aided by laughter, create instances of collaboration and complicity. Corruption in cross-cultural encounters serves as a lens through which to imagine the Other and evaluate their behavior, and by drawing those complicit in corrupt transactions into shared (im)moral worlds, it generates opportunities for rapprochement. [corruption, humor, encounter, Ethiopia, China] RESUMEN La presencia creciente china en Etiopía ha inspirado un debate animado acerca de la presencia china entre los etíopes a través de Etiopía, a menudo con un lado humorístico. Corrupción es uno de los tópicos recurrente en narrativas divertidas que circulan de forma discontinua a través de sitios de construcción manejados por chinos que han emergido a través del paisaje de Etiopía durante las dos décadas pasadas. Mientras historias humorísticas de corrupción insinúan la posibilidad de corrupción e introducen la audiencia a los códigos culturales de conducta, prácticas corruptas, igualmente ayudados por risa, crean instancias de colaboración y complicidad. La corrupción en encuentros interculturales sirve como un lente a través del cual imaginar al otro y evaluar su conducta, y al atraer a aquellos cómplices en transacciones corruptas dentro de mundos (in)morales compartidos, se generan oportunidades de acercamiento. [corrupción, humor, encuentro,

“Hurdles” or “lubricants”: Petty corruption and Chinese migrants in Africa

“…… They (the Chinese) told me that China is not like that. One day I will go and see for myself.” As Driessen 59 illustrates, in Ethiopia, jokes about corruption can be important in bringing Chinese and Ethiopians into a shared (a)moral world where cross‐cultural rapprochement is made possible. Likewise, shared experiences with petty corruption help bridge the lifeworld of the Chinese and the locals and dissolve class and cultural differences.…”

“…“Cultural matching” also involves cultural reconciliation and moral convergence. Driessen's 59 study of new Chinese migrants in Ethiopia suggests that a reconciliation of cross‐cultural understandings of corruption “serves as a lens through which to imagine the other and evaluate their behavior.” She finds that in Ethiopian–Chinese encounters, the negotiated understanding of corruption eventually goes beyond the simple dichotomy of corrupt/uncorrupt or lawful/unlawful, but rather “often distinguish between moral and immoral, acceptable and unacceptable, productive and unproductive, honest and dishonest forms of corruption” (912). Migrants' better sociocultural integration into the host society helps mitigate the barriers to tackle corruption.…”

Tear gas in orbit

“…These seemingly airy jokes, then, began to stand as serious commentary about the materialities of Palestine's own air. They laid bare the contemporary, material contours of Israeli colonization, and in so doing, they helped “define what is thinkable,” as Haugerud (2013, p. 53) has argued about satire in a US context (see also Bernal, 2013; Driessen, 2019). Their absurdity also helped people vocalize the absurdity of the status quo itself, creating a shared language amid uncertainty, violence, and alienation, a language that addressed the faraway reaches of empire that often go unspoken (Trnka, 2019).…”

Trials of trustworthiness between Ethiopian lawyers and Chinese clients

“…Now that he is a solo practitioner he continues to do so whenever his workload demands it. A lawyer's willingness to be complicit in illegal practices was the ultimate sign of rapprochement and trust between Ethiopian lawyers and Chinese clients (Driessen 2019a). Some lawyers engaged in unlawful practices for their clients, such as paying bribes or evading the payment of damages that had been awarded to their Ethiopian opponents.…”