Sociocultural Origins of the Oromo National Movement in Ethiopia

This paper examines social and cultural factors that have necessitated the emergence of the Oromo national movement. Since their incorporation into Ethiopia, the Oromo have lost their autonomous cultural and social development. With the help of the European colonial power, the Ethiopians effectively occupied Oromia, expropriated Oromian economic resources, established settler colonialism, and repressed Oromo culture and negated Oromo history. The colonial settlers created oppressive institutions that facilitated the extraction of Oromo produce and labor. The Oromo have become second class citizens and lost political freedom and institutional power. Recently Oromo cultural resistance has been transformed into the Oromo national movement that struggled to redefine the relationship between the Oromo and Ethiopians. The emergence of intellectual and professional groups in Oromo society has played a decisive role in this transformation.