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The Wheel of Autonomy

The Wheel of Autonomy

Felix Girke

(2018)

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Abstract

How do the Kara, a small population residing on the eastern bank of the Omo River in southern Ethiopia, manage to be neither annexed nor exterminated by any of the larger groups that surround them? Through the theoretical lens of rhetoric, this book offers an interactionalist analysis of how the Kara negotiate ethnic and non-ethnic differences among themselves, the relations with their various neighbors, and eventually their integration in the Ethiopian state. The model of the “Wheel of Autonomy” captures the interplay of distinction, agency and autonomy that drives these dynamics and offers an innovative perspective on social relations.


“This is a superb book, which regarding theories of culture, the epistemology of ethnographic research, and the evolution of our understanding of South Omo societies is path-breaking… The writing is fresh, clear and evocative.” • John G. Galaty, McGill University


Felix Girke is a social/cultural anthropologist and a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Konstanz, Germany. His publications include the edited volumes Ethiopian Images of Self and Other (UVHW, 2014) and The Rhetorical Emergence of Culture (Berghahn Books, 2011). He currently studies the politics of cultural heritage in Myanmar.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
The Wheel of Autonomy iii
Copyright Page iv
Contents v
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. A Rhetorical Approach to Groups and Ethnicity 25
Chapter 2. Categories of Being Kara 46
Chapter 3. Ethnicity within Kara 83
Chapter 4. The Moguji 104
Chapter 5. The Schism and Other Predicaments of the Moguji 132
Chapter 6. The Regional Other in the Cultural Neighbourhood 148
Chapter 7. South Omo in Kara Terms 166
Chapter 8. The Cleverness of the Kara 194
Chapter 9. Seeing Like a Tribe 226
Conclusion 250
Glossary of Non-English Terms 261
Glossary of Places and People 266
References 271
Index 287