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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Importance Of Intersectionality In Evaluating The Surveillance And Protest Politics Of The Movement For Black Lives (M4bl), Shaneda L. Destine Jan 2023

The Importance Of Intersectionality In Evaluating The Surveillance And Protest Politics Of The Movement For Black Lives (M4bl), Shaneda L. Destine

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This study analyzes the political challenges presented to Black women and queer activists affiliated with Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL). BLM is a Black liberation global network that developed in 2013 and expanded into M4BL in 2016 to include more grassroots organizations. Social movement scholars have not centered the intersectional goals of this Black women-led M4BL or confronted the white (back-) lash of the Trump’s administration’s Department of Justice’s use of federal law to further cis-heteropatriarchal white supremacy. The Movement began and developed due to the social media and protests in Ferguson, MO. However, …


The Impacts Of Terrorism And Capitalist Incorporation On Indigenous Americans, Asafa Jalata Mar 2013

The Impacts Of Terrorism And Capitalist Incorporation On Indigenous Americans, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This article demonstrates the connections between terrorism , colonial state formation, and the development of the capitalist world system, or globalization, exploring theconsequences of colonial terrorism on indigenous American peoples. First, the piece introduces the central argument and conceptualizes and theorizes terrorism. Second, it examines the structural aspects of colonial terrorism by connecting it to specific colonial policies and practices. Third, it explain the ideological justifications tha Euro-American colonial settlers and their descendants used In committing crimes against humanity and dispossessing the homelands of indigenous Americans, as well as in amassing wealth/capital by ignoring moral, ethical ,and philosophical issues and …


Promoting And Developing Oromummaa (Power Point), Asafa Jalata Dec 2012

Promoting And Developing Oromummaa (Power Point), Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.


Promoting And Developing Oromummaa, Asafa Jalata Sep 2012

Promoting And Developing Oromummaa, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

As any concept, Oromummaa has different meanings on conventional, theoretical, and political, and ideological levels. Although the colonizers of the Oromo deny, most Oromos know their linguistic, cultural, historical, political, and behavioral patterns that have closely connect together all of their sub-identities to the Oromo nation. There is a clear conventional understanding among all Oromo branches and individuals on these issues. The Oromo national movement has gradually expanded the essence and meaning of Oromummaa. The colonization of the Oromo and the disruption of their collective identity and the repression and exploitation of Oromo society have increased the commitment of some …


The Oromo: Toward A Psychology Of Liberation And Oromo Empowerment, Asafa Jalata May 2012

The Oromo: Toward A Psychology Of Liberation And Oromo Empowerment, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.


Gadaa (Oromo Democracy): An Example Of Classical African Civilization, Asafa Jalata Mar 2012

Gadaa (Oromo Democracy): An Example Of Classical African Civilization, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

The paper briefly introduces and explains the essence of indigenous Oromo democracy and its main characteristics that are relevant for the current condition of Africa in general and Oromo society in particular. It also illustrates how Oromo democracy had functioned as a socio-political institution by preventing oppression and exploitation and by promoting relative peace, security, sustainable development, and political sovereignty, and how the gadaa system organized Oromo society around economic, cultural and religious institutions. Finally, the paper explores how the Oromo movement for national self-determination and multinational democracy struggles to revive and revitalize the Oromo democratic tradition.


Indigenous Peoples In The Capitalist World System: Researching, Knowing, And Promoting Social Justice, Asafa Jalata Apr 2011

Indigenous Peoples In The Capitalist World System: Researching, Knowing, And Promoting Social Justice, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

The paper critically examines how indigenous peoples all over the world have been terrorized, exterminated, abused, and misused by those ethnonations that control nation-states in the capitalist world system. The homelands, economic and natural resources of indigenous peoples were expropriated and transferred to colonial settlers and their descendants and collaborators that have no interest to protect the political, economic, civil, and social rights that are articulated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Since the indigenous peoples are not represented in academia and media institutions, their voices are muzzled and hidden and …


The Impacts Of Capitalist Incorporation And Terrorism On Indigenous Americans, Asafa Jalata Mar 2011

The Impacts Of Capitalist Incorporation And Terrorism On Indigenous Americans, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This article critically explores the essence of colonial terrorism and its consequences on the indigenous American peoples during their colonization and incorporation into the European-dominated racialized capitalist world system between the late 15th and 19th century. It employs multidimensional, comparative methods, and critical approaches to explain the dynamic interplay among social structures, human agency, and terrorism to explain the connection between terrorism and the emergence of the capitalist world system or globalization. Raising some complex moral, intellectual, philosophical, ethical, and political questions, this paper explores the essence, roles, and impacts of colonial terrorism on the indigenous Americans. First, the paper …


Imperfections In U. S. Foreign Policy Toward Oromia And Ethiopia: Will The Obama Administration Introduce Change?, Asafa Jalata Mar 2011

Imperfections In U. S. Foreign Policy Toward Oromia And Ethiopia: Will The Obama Administration Introduce Change?, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This paper argues that because of its perceived strategic national interest and the wrong advice it received from experts and racist assumptions about the Oromo, the U.S. government has allied with the Tigrayan minority elites to form a colonial government and to suppress the Oromo national movement. Thus, the major question becomes will the Obama administration respect the rights of African peoples in general and that of the Oromo in particular?


Terrorism From Above And Below In The Age Of Globalization, Asafa Jalata Feb 2011

Terrorism From Above And Below In The Age Of Globalization, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This paper explains how the intensification of globalization as the modern world system has increased the oc- currence of terrorism from above (i.e. state actors) and from below (i.e. non-state actors). We cannot adequately grasp the essence and characteristics of modern terrorism without understanding the larger cultural, social, eco- nomic, and political contexts in which it takes place. Since terrorism has been conceptualized, defined, and theo- rized by those who have contradictory interests and objectives and since the subject matter of terrorism is com- plex, difficult, and elusive, there is a wide gap in establishing a common understanding among the …


The Oromo In Exile: Creating Knowledge And Promoting Social Justice, Asafa Jalata Nov 2010

The Oromo In Exile: Creating Knowledge And Promoting Social Justice, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

Although it has been impossible to freely study, write, and publish on the issues of the Oromo people in the Ethiopian Empire because of political repression, activist Oromo scholars in the Diaspora have been engaging in the development critical Oromo scholarship to address the political, economic, cultural and social problems of this down-trodden people for almost two decades. As a member of the Oromo Diaspora, I have been participating in and observing the development of Oromo scholarship. Successive Ethiopian governments have been targeting for imprisonment or elimination activist Oromos suspecting their participation in the Oromo national movement for national self-determination, …


European Colonial Terrorism And The Incorporation Of Africa Into The Capitalist World System, Asafa Jalata Oct 2010

European Colonial Terrorism And The Incorporation Of Africa Into The Capitalist World System, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This article critically explores the essence and characters of European colonial terrorism and its main consequences on various African peoples during racial slavery, colonization, and incorporation into the European-dominated capitalist world system between the late 15th and 20th centuries. It employs multidimensional, comparative methods, and critical approaches to explain the dynamic interplay among social structures, human agency, and terrorism to critically understand the connections among terrorism, the emergence of globalization, and African underdevelopment. The piece focuses on four central issues: First, it conceptualizes and theorizes terrorism to clarify its roles in creating and maintaining the global system. Second, it focuses …


Celebrating Oromo Heroism And Commemorating The Oromo Marytrs' Day (Guyya Gootota Oromiyaa), Asafa Jalata Apr 2010

Celebrating Oromo Heroism And Commemorating The Oromo Marytrs' Day (Guyya Gootota Oromiyaa), Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

Oromo history demonstrates that the Oromo people had been heroic when they were organized under the gadaa system of government. Between the third and fourth gadaa grades (i.e., from 16 to 32 years), Oromo boys became adolescent and initiated into taking serious responsibilities, including protecting the security of the Oromo country. The ruling group had responsibility to assign senior leaders and experts to instruct and advise these young men in the importance of leadership, organization, and warfare.


Oromummaa: National Identity And Politics Of Liberation, Asafa Jalata Apr 2010

Oromummaa: National Identity And Politics Of Liberation, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

Local and fragmented Oromummaa and national Oromummaa are interconnected, but not necessarily one and the same. For instance, if you were born into an Oromo family in an area where the Oromo language is widely spoken, you automatically learn this language without relating it to Oromo national culture and liberation politics. In several Oromia regions, under Ethiopian colonialism, there are Oromos who speak Afaan Oromoo and express local culture without comprehending Oromo national culture and politics. Such Oromos may claim that they were born with Oromummaa. But this kind of Oromummaa is local and fragmented and little to do with …


What Is Next For The Oromo People?, Asafa Jalata Mar 2010

What Is Next For The Oromo People?, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

Thank you for inviting me to give a talk on the future of the Oromo people. To try to speculate on the future of the Oromo people is a very challenging task. Nevertheless, I try my best depending on my knowledge of the Oromo colonial history and national struggle in relation to the Ethiopian colonial state. Currently, the Oromo people and their national struggle are at a crossroads because of three major reasons. First, since the Oromo people are engaged in national struggle for self-determination, statehood, sovereignty, and democracy, the Tigrayan-led Ethiopian government is systematically attacking and terrorizing them. Second, …


Oromo Peoplehood: Historical And Cultural Overview, Asafa Jalata Mar 2010

Oromo Peoplehood: Historical And Cultural Overview, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

The study of the historical, cultural, religious, linguistic, geographical and civilizational foundations of Oromo society is essential to understand the differences between the Oromo and Ethiopian peoples. The study of these differences is important in properly addressing historical contradictions which have emerged since the colonization of Oromia. First, we introduce Oromia and explain the process of its establishment. Second, we discuss the origin and branches of the Oromo and their modes of livelihoods, the gada system (Oromo democracy), world views, philosophy, and religion. Third, we explore the processes of class differentiation and kingdom formation in northern and western Oromia.


The Ethiopian State: Authoritarianism, Violence And Clandestine Genocide, Asafa Jalata Mar 2010

The Ethiopian State: Authoritarianism, Violence And Clandestine Genocide, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

“Modern” Ethiopia has been created and maintained through the achievement of external legitimacy. As the European colonial powers such as Great Britain, France, and Italy enabled the Abyssinian (Amhara-­Tigray) warlords to create the modern Ethiopian Empire during the last decades of the nineteenth century, successive hegemonic world powers, namely England, the former USSR, and the United States, has maintained the existence of various Ethiopian government until now. At the same time, the successive Amhara-­Tigray regimes have failed to achieve internal legitimacy among the more colonized peoples while maintaining some degree of legitimacy among the minority Abyssinian population. While authoritarian rule …


The Urgency Of Building Oromo National Consensus, Asafa Jalata Jan 2010

The Urgency Of Building Oromo National Consensus, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.


Review Of Space, Oil And Capital By Mazen Labban. Routledge Press, 2008. Economic Geography 86(1): 113-114, Paul K. Gellert Jan 2010

Review Of Space, Oil And Capital By Mazen Labban. Routledge Press, 2008. Economic Geography 86(1): 113-114, Paul K. Gellert

Sociology Publications and Other Works

[Extract] Conventional geopolitical perspectives on oil posit that the world's total oil supplies have been depleted to such an extent that we are past the peak, and confiict and rising prices are to be expected. Political economy perspectives often reject such neo- Malthusian ideas and stress the importance of oil as a strategic commodity for the perpetuation of hegemonic power, in this case by the United States. Mazen Labban's insightful, dense, and short book (roughly 150 pages) applies a Marxian geographic analysis to the subject of oil with a focus on the Soviet Union, Russia, and Iran. In doing so, …


The Tigrayan-Led The Ethiopian State, Repression, Terrorism, And Gross Human Rights Violations In Oromia And Ethiopia, Asafa Jalata Jan 2010

The Tigrayan-Led The Ethiopian State, Repression, Terrorism, And Gross Human Rights Violations In Oromia And Ethiopia, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

The Tigrayan-led Ethiopian government has engaged in state terrorism and genocide with the support of global powers, including the US, countries of emerging economy like China and India, global institutions like the World Bank and the IMF; it has massacred, assassinated, imprisoned, and tortured millions of Oromos and members other colonized peoples. Millions of Oromos have been also evicted and replaced by thugs and thieves who have no morality and conscience.


Urban Centers In Oromia: Consequences Of Spatial Concentration Of Power In Multinational Ethiopia, Asafa Jalata Jan 2010

Urban Centers In Oromia: Consequences Of Spatial Concentration Of Power In Multinational Ethiopia, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This paper examines the essence and characteristics of cities and urban centers in Oromia and the major consequences of the centralization and spatial concentration of Habasha (Amhara-Tigray) political power in a multinational Ethiopia. It speci!cally demonstrates how the integration of indigenous Oromo towns into the Ethiopian colonial structure and the formation of garrison and non-garrison cities and towns in Oromia consolidated Habasha political domination over the Oromo people. Ethiopian colonial structure limited the access of Oromo urban residents, who are a minority in their own cities and towns, to institutions and opportunities, such as employment, education, health, mass media and …


Imagining Oromo Self-Knowledge For National Organization Capacity Building, Asafa Jalata Oct 2009

Imagining Oromo Self-Knowledge For National Organization Capacity Building, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This paper imagines and explains the essence of Oromo self-knowledge in relation to Oromummaa—Oromo culture, identity, and human agency at the personal, interpersonal[i] and collective (national)[ii] levels. It specifically explains the relationship between Oromo national and sub-identities before and after colonialism, the uneven development of Oromummaa, and Oromo organizational problems. This paper also suggests some steps that should be taken by Oromo leaders, nationalists, and activists in order to overcome the problem of uneven development of Oromo nationalism and to build an effective national political leadership, increasing the organizational capacity of Oromo society so it will be able to achieve …


The Struggle Of The Oromo To Preserve An Indigenous Democracy, Asafa Jalata Jun 2009

The Struggle Of The Oromo To Preserve An Indigenous Democracy, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This paper explores the essence of the gadaa system (Oromo democracy) and how and why the Oromo people are struggling to preserve and develop this indigenous democracy, written records of which go back to the sixteenth century. It also explains the essence and the main characteristics of Oromo democracy that can be adapted to the current condition of Oromo society in order to revitalize the Oromo national movement for national self-determination and democracy and to build a sovereign Oromia state in a multinational context. The paper also demonstrates that this kind of struggle is an uphill battle because the Oromo …


Being In And Out Of Africa: The Impact Of Duality Of Ethiopianism, Asafa Jalata Jan 2009

Being In And Out Of Africa: The Impact Of Duality Of Ethiopianism, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This article critically examines how the duality inherent in the concept of Ethiopianism shifts back and forth between claims of a “Semitic” identity when appealing to the White, Christian, ethnocentric, occidental hegemonic power center and claims of an African identity when cultivating the support of sub-Saharan Africans and the African diaspora while, at the same time, ruthlessly suppressing the history and culture of non-Semitic Africans of the various colonized peoples, such as Oromos. Successive Ethiopian state elites have used their Blackness to mobilize other Africans and the African diaspora for their political projects by confusing original Africa, Ethiopia, or the …


Increasing Political Activism And Mobilization: Building An Oromo Agency And Capacity For Liberation, Asafa Jalata Dec 2008

Increasing Political Activism And Mobilization: Building An Oromo Agency And Capacity For Liberation, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

Without increasing our political activism, mobilizing and organizing our people, we cannot effectively challenge and defeat our external and internal enemies that are attempting to strangulate the development of Oromummaa and the progress of the Oromo national struggle. Our external enemies have been using Oromo clienteles to achieve their political and economic objectives in Oromia. Some Oromos have been used as raw materials in building other nations. Such Oromos have lacked political and national consciousness or lacked self-respect and attacked the Oromo nation for money and other interests. As the Said Bare government created and used the Somali Abo group …


Faces Of Terrorism In The Age Of Globalization: Terrorism From Above And Below, Asafa Jalata Nov 2008

Faces Of Terrorism In The Age Of Globalization: Terrorism From Above And Below, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This paper explains how the intensification of globalization as the modern world system with its ideological intensity of racism and religious extremism and its concomitant advancement in technology and organizational skills has increased the danger of all forms of terrorism. In this world system, the contestation over economic resources and power and the resistance to domination and repression or religious and ideological extremism have increased the occurrence of terrorism from above (i.e. state actors) and from below (i.e. non-state actors). We cannot adequately grasp the essence and characteristics of modern terrorism without understanding the larger cultural, social, economic, and political …


Struggling For Social Justice In The Capitalist World System: The Cases Of African Americans, Oromos, And Southern And Western Sudanese, Asafa Jalata May 2008

Struggling For Social Justice In The Capitalist World System: The Cases Of African Americans, Oromos, And Southern And Western Sudanese, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This article identifies and examines the processes through which the social justice movements of African Americans in the US, Oromos in Ethiopia, and Southern and Western Sudanese in Sudan emerged, and the successes and failures of these movements in a global and comparative perspective. It specifically explores four interrelated issues. First, the paper deals with some theoretical and methodological insights. Second, the piece explains how the racialized capitalist world system and its political structures facilitated the creation of the states of the US, Ethiopia, and Sudan and legalized racial/ethnonational oppression, colonialism, exploitation, and continued subjugation. Third, it explains comparatively the …


Oromummaa As The Master Ideology Of The Oromo National Movement, Asafa Jalata Jan 2008

Oromummaa As The Master Ideology Of The Oromo National Movement, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

Oromummaa, as an element of culture, nationalism, and vision, has the power to serve as a manifestation of the collective identity of the Oromo national movement. The foundation of Oromummaa must be built on overarching principles that are embedded within Oromo traditions and culture and, at the same time, have universal relevance for all oppressed peoples. The main foundations of Oromummaa are individual and collective freedom, justice, popular democracy, and human liberation all of which are built on the concept of saffu (moral and ethical order) and are enshrined in gada principles. Although, in recent years, many Oromos have become …


Ethiopia: The State Of Terror And War In The Horn Of Africa, Asafa Jalata Jul 2007

Ethiopia: The State Of Terror And War In The Horn Of Africa, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

My discussion focuses on two central issues. First, I will demonstrate how global connections, war, and terrorism have been used as the main political tools in creating and maintaining the Abyssinian/Ethiopian state. Second, I will assert how there cannot be peace, democracy, stability, and development in the Horn of Africa without removing the Tigrayan-led minority Ethiopian government that intensifies terrorism, external dependency, and war in the Horn of Africa.


The Concept Of Oromummaa And Identity Formation In Contemporary Oromo Society, Asafa Jalata Jul 2007

The Concept Of Oromummaa And Identity Formation In Contemporary Oromo Society, Asafa Jalata

Sociology Publications and Other Works

This paper examines the essence of Oromummaa (Oromo culture and nationalism),[1] Oromo identity, and human agency at the personal, interpersonal[2] and collective (national)[3] levels. It specifically explains the relationship between the uneven development of Oromummaa and Oromo organizational problems. This paper also suggests some steps that should be taken by Oromo nationalists and activists in order to overcome the problem of uneven development of Oromo nationalism and to build an effective national political leadership, increasing the organizational capacity of Oromo society so it will be able to achieve self-determination and human liberation.