Table des matières

List of Figures

List of Sources

List of Contributors

Alula Pankhurst

Foreword

Margaux Herman

Preface

• 1. Background of the project
• 2. Reading guidelines: description and objectives
• 3. Editor’s note on references, footnotes, and style: a pedagogical choice
• 4. Brief description
• 5. Objectives for lecturers
• 6. Objectives for students

Glossary

Transliteration table for Ge‘ez script

Part 1. Historiography and Methodology

Margaux Herman

Chapter 1

Who Wrote Ethiopian Women’s History and how to Write it?

• 1. Historiography of the research conducted on women’s history in Ethiopia
• 1.1 Belete Bizuneh’s historiographic work on Ethiopian women’s history
• 1.2 Only few changes since 2002: a critical need to develop women’s history in Ethiopia
• 2. Using Ethiopian primary sources for reconstructing Ethiopian women’s history
• 2.1 Ethiopian written sources
• 2.2 Ethiopian oral sources
• 2.3 Archaeology and material culture and techniques
• 2.4 Foreign sources
• Conclusion

Part 2. Women and Myths of Foundation

Margaux Herman

Chapter 2

Women and Myths of Foundation

• 1. “The first Ethiopian is a woman”: Lucy
• 2. Queen Makǝdda, the mother of Christian Ethiopians
• 2.1 Makǝdda and the Ethiopian Christian kingdom’s identity
• 2.2 The descendants of Makǝdda’s servant and Solomon
• 2.3 The revival, rewriting and diffusion of the Queen Makǝdda and Solomon myth at the end of the 19th century
• 2.4 Makǝdda and the Betä Ǝsra’el communities
• 3. The political decline of Aksum in the 10th century surrounded by legends all linked to an unknown historical queen
• 3.1 Historical evidence of a non-Christian queen of the 10th century
• 3.2 The Christian traditions
• 3.3 The episode of “Gudit” in the Betä Ǝsra’el tradition
• 4. Akko Manoyye, the last ancestral Queen of the Guji Oromo
• Conclusion

Part 3. Women and Religion

Verena Böll

Chapter 3

Women and Christianity

• 1. The impact of women on the Ethiopian Church
• 1.1 Biblical women and historical saints
• 1.2 Originators of Church feasts
• 1.3 Historical saints
• a) Queens
• b) Nuns and abbey founders
• 2. Further contributions of orthodox women
• 2.1 Female theologians and their significance for the EOTC
• 2.2 Benefactresses
• Conclusion

Meron Zeleke et Silvia Bruzzi

Chapter 4

Islam and Gender in Ethiopia

• 1. Women and Islam in Ethiopia
• 1.1 How to study the history of Sufi women
• 1.2 Some prominent Muslim women in ancient and medieval history
• 1.3 Holy women and scholars (1850–1930)
• 1.4 The city of Harar, a depository of women’s legacy in Islam in the Horn of Africa
• 2. Muslim women beyond orthodoxy and heresy
• 2.1 Women are considered guardians of pre-Islamic religious traditions
• 2.2 Gendered responses of the Sufi shaykh facing criticism
• Conclusion

Thomas Osmond

Chapter 5

Women and “Traditional” Beliefs

• 1. Classical historical discourses on women and “traditional” religions
• 1.1 Controversial definitions of African traditional religion(s)
• 1.2 “Traditional” religions in Ethiopian and Western Christian historiography
• 1.3 “Traditional religions” in regional Muslim historiography
• 2. Women’s current trajectories across Oromo religious tradition(s)
• 2.1 Women as “invisible” historical agents of Oromo national reformation
• 2.2 Women’s ritual involvement in social unity and welfare
• 2.3 Women’s representation in the celebration of trans-local/national saints
• Conclusion

Part 4. Women, Politics, and Social Participation

Margaux Herman

Chapter 6

Ethiopian Christian Queens from Medieval Times to the End of the 19th Century

• 1. Queens and the evolution of the monarchy during the 16th century
• 1.1 From multiple wives (polygyny) to a single wife (monogamy)
• 1.2 16th century, the century of regencies
• 1.3 The creation of the title of Itege* or Etege*
• 2. The political role of queens in Ethiopian history
• 2.1 Advisers to kings
• 2.2 Diplomats
• 2.3 A religious role
• Conclusion

Bahru Zewde

Chapter 7

The Woman Question in the Ethiopian Student Movement

• 1. The settings of women’s participation in the student movement
• 1.1 The precursors
• 1.2 The Ethiopian student movement
• 2. Women’s participation in the student movements
• 2.1 Early challenges
• 2.2 Women’s Study Group
• Conclusion

Gennet Zewide

Chapter 8

Women’s Political Participation from 1974 to 1993

• 1. Ethiopian Women’s Coordinating Committee (EWCC) and other women’s associations
• 1.1 February 1974
• 1.2 The creation of the Ethiopian Women’s Coordinating Committee (EWCC) in February 1975
• 1.3 The use of “zämäch’a” as a platform to create awareness about “women’s issues”
• 1.4 The Revolutionary Ethiopian Women’s Association (REWA) in 1980
• 2. Women’s struggle against the Därg Regime
• 2.1 Secretive Political Parties and Women’s Struggles (EPRP, EWOS and AESM)
• 2.2 The life of women and children in detention
• 3. Women in arms
• 3.1 From peaceful resistance to armed struggle
• 3.2 The creation of a women’s organisation in the army
• 3.3 Challenges faced by women fighters within the struggle
• 3.4 Mothers’ shouting “UUTA” and providing shelter
• Conclusion

Gennet Zewide et Margaux Herman

Chapter 9

A Review of Constitutional and Legal Changes Relating to the Political Participation of Women (1993–2018)

• 1. Towards women’s leadership: the theory
• 1.1 From transitional government (1991) to drafting the 1995 Constitution
• 1.2 The 1995 Constitution adaptation
• 1.3 The question of women’s participation in parliament
• 2. A change towards women’s leadership: the statistics
• 2.1 Women’s participation in politics (1995–2010): the statistics
• 2.2 Political participation (2015–2018)
• 2.3 Women’s civil society organisations: rise and struggles
• Conclusion

Part 5. Women at War

Margaux Herman

Chapter 10

Women and War

• 1. Can women participate in wars?
• 1.1 “To be a soldier is a male quality, being a woman is being a coward”
• 1.2 Findings regarding women’s active participation
• 1.3 The case of pregnant women
• 2. The roles of women in war
• 2.1 Motivating to fight
• 2.2 Preparing, carrying, and collecting food, supplies and weapons
• 2.3 Informers and active participation
• 2.4 Nurses
• 2.5 Peacemakers
• 3. Famous women leading soldiers on the battlefields
• 3.1 Known medieval warrior queens
• 3.2 Ǝtege Ṭaytu and the road to Adwa (1885/1896)
• 3.3 Women at war during the Italo-Ethiopian War (1935–1936) and during the resistance (1936–1941)
• 3.4 Women at war in the post 1941 period
• Conclusion

Part 6. Women at Work

Derese Ayenachew

Chapter 11

Ethiopian Women in Traditional Craftsmanship: Specific Notes on the Wise-Women of the Šäwa Kingdom (17th–19th centuries)

• 1. The beginning and the expansion of handcraftsmanship in Šäwa
• 1.1 Archaeological evidence since the 8th century
• 1.2 Šäwan traditions on spinning and pottery-making skills
• 1.3 From Gondär to Šäwa (17th–18th centuries)
• 2. Handicraft centres and King Śahlä Śǝllase (1813–1840)
• 2.1 The handicraft women at the court of King Śahlä Śǝllase (1813–1840).
• 2.2 The division of the workshop: “the royal and the ordinary spinning women”
• 2.3 The status of the spinning women
• 2.4 The mechanisation of cloth making
• 2.5 The legacy and the link between Gondär and Ankobär
• Conclusion

Samuel Andreas Admasie

Chapter 12

Working Class Women

• 1. Wage-working women
• 1.1 Taking up and giving up wage employment
• 1.2 Main areas of wage work
• 2. Rights, conditions and pay
• 2.1 Pay
• 2.2 Rights and conditions
• 3. Women in the labour movement
• Conclusion

Constance Perrin-Joly

Chapter 13

Women and Entrepreneurship

• 1. Potential sources allowing the history of women’s entrepreneurship to be traced
• 1.1 Archives and censuses can provide quantitative data on self-employed women
• 1.2 Qualitative data sources available
• 2. Female entrepreneurship: poverty reduction or empowerment?
• 2.1 Female entrepreneurship in Ethiopia: History and state of the art
• 2.2 Female entrepreneurship in Ethiopia: Resources and Constraints
• 2.3 Microcredit: a wrong solution for developing female entrepreneurship?
• 3. Stepping out of the traditional role to run a business
• 3.1 Naturalised skills: Female entrepreneurship and household activities
• 3.2 Women’s network: a work in progress
• Conclusion

Shimeles Bonsa Gulema et Marina de Regt

Chapter 14

Women, Work and Migration

• 1. Women on the move: the imperial period
• 1.1 Causes of migration during the 19th and early 20th century
• 1.2 The beginning of women’s independent migration (1936–1941)
• 1.3 Large-scale urban migration for women (1941–1975)
• 2. Migration in a time of revolution: Socialist Ethiopia
• 2.1 The revolution and its impact on women’s migration
• 2.2 The revolution and its impact on women in urban Ethiopia
• 2.3 The revolution and the beginning of international labour migration
• 3. Migration under the EPRDF
• 3.1 International migration
• 3.2 Internal migration
• Conclusion

Part 7. Women, Family, and Law

Habtamu M. Tegegne

Chapter 15

Women, Property and Inheritance in Ethiopia (mid-18th to early 20th centuries)

• 1. Methodological approach
• 1.1 Primary sources: Property transactions
• 1.2 The argument
• 2. Women, wills and property
• 2.1 Women, property, and family leadership
• 2.2 Women and illegitimate children
• 2.3 Dowry and marriage
• 3. Women and bequests
• 3.1 Women, adoption and the choice of heirs
• 3.2 Purpose and timing of testamentary bequests
• 4. Women, church land and the land market
• 4.1 Women and church landholding
• 4.2 Women and the land market
• 4.3 Women’s rights in property alienation
• Conclusion

Pierre Guidi

Chapter 16

Women and Education in Ethiopia since the End of the 19th Century

• I. A short history of the education of girls and women in Ethiopia since the end of the 19th century
• I.1 Teaching “ladies” during the rule of Ḫaylä Selasse (1930–1974)
• I.2 Teaching girls and women during the reign of Ḫaylä Selasse (1930–1974)
• I.3 Learning for the masses since the Därg period
• II. Forms of gender socialisation in schools
• II.1 From teaching how to be a good housewife to learning “women’s work”
• II.2 A gendered school socialisation: the stereotypes
• III. School education, women’s work, and women’s activism
• III.1 Changes are visible in urban areas
• III.2 School-educated women, the voices of women’s rights movements
• Conclusion

Part 8. Women and Sports

Benoit Gaudin

Chapter 17

The Long Road to Ethiopian Women’s Participation in Athletics

• 1. International contextualisation of the study
• 1.1 The Olympics and the traditional patriarchal mentality in sports
• 1.2 Women in distance running? “Not a very edifying spectacle”
• 2. The Ethiopian context
• 2.1 The traditional low-status, low-expectation social role of women in Ethiopia
• 2.2 Longer training for Ethiopian women to reach Olympic competition?
• 3. From physical education to the first professional female runners in Ethiopia
• 3.1 The first forms of physical education for girls in Ethiopia
• 3.2 Italian sportswomen during the occupation
• 3.3 Pioneers as social rule breakers
• Conclusion

Tamirat Gebremariam

Chapter 18

Three Notable Ethiopian Female Athletes

• 1. Tsigie Gebre Mesih
• 1.1 Childhood in Addis Ababa
• 1.2 Facing family opposition and criticism from society
• 1.3 Professional training and career
• 1.4 Becoming a coach
• 1.5 Life awards
• 2. Derartu Tulu
• 2.1 From a child tending cattle to physical education
• 2.2 From wärädä to national championships
• 2.3 From Marämiya Sport Club to the Ethiopian national athletics team
• 3. Merima Denboba
• 3.1 Growing up in Arsi in a supportive family and context
• 3.2 A model for Ethiopian Muslim women athletes
• Conclusion

Part 9. Women, Sexuality and Reproductive Health

Marie-Laure Derat et Rahwa Mussie Weldemichael

Chapter 19

Women and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

• 1. The historical background of excision and debates in medieval Ethiopia in relation to circumcision
• 1.1 The Christianisation of the FGM/C ritual during the reign of King Zär’ä Ya’əqob (1434–1468)
• 1.2 FGM/C and the question of Judaic influence in Ethiopian Christianity: A debate that started during the 16th century
• 2. The practices of FGM/C in modern times (17th–19th centuries)
• 2.1 Communities that practised excision (or not) at the end of the 18th century
• 2.2 How FGM/C was performed in medieval and postmedieval Ethiopia (16th–19th centuries)
• 3. The practices of FMG/C in 21st century Ethiopia
• 3.1 Overview of the practice of FGM/C in 21st century Ethiopia
• 3.2 The practitioners
• 4. The current discourse for the perpetuation of the practice
• 4.1 The medical and psychological impact of FGM/C on women
• 5. The tools to fight FGM/C and move towards changes
• 5.1 Type of actions to end FGM/C
• 5.2 History of the government effort against FGM/C
• Conclusion

Rahwa Mussie Weldemichael

Chapter 20

Women and Reproductive Health in Contemporary Ethiopia

• 1. The evolution of national health policies and strategies
• 2. The burden on women in reproductive health
• 2.1 Maternal mortality
• 2.2 Abortion
• 2.3 A historical account of syphilis and HIV/AIDS
• 3. The issues of child marriage and family planning
• 3.1 Child marriage
• 3.2 Family planning
• Conclusion

Bethlehem Tekola

Chapter 21

Women and Prostitution

• 1. Prostitution in Ethiopia: a historical sketch
• 1.1 A vague definition of a prostitute in pre-20th century Ethiopia
• 1.2 Gondär, other centres and prostitution in the 19th century
• 2. The history of prostitution at the beginning of the 20th century
• 2.1 The development of urban centres and prostitution
• 2.2 The Italian occupation of Ethiopia and the spread of prostitution
• 3. Sociological and anthropological works on prostitution in Ethiopia in the postliberation period
• 3.1 Only a few themes in research
• 3.2 Only a few integrative approaches
• Conclusion

General bibliography