Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia: The Tigray People's Liberation Front, 1975-1991

by John Young

Overview

Almost unnoticed, in the wake of the overthrow of Emperor Haile-Selassie, the coming to power of the military, and the ongoing independence struggle in Eritrea, a band of students launched an insurrection from the northern Ethiopian province of Tigray. Calling themselves the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), they built close relations with Tigray's poverty-stricken peasants and on this basis liberated the province in 1989, and formed an ethnic-based coalition of opposition forces that assumed state power in 1991. This book chronicles that history and focuses in particular on the relationship of the revolutionaries with Ethiopia's peasants.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521026062
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/20/2006
Series:	African Studies , #91
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	5.94(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; 1. Peasants and revolutions: theoretical directions; 2. Historical and social background; 3. Tigray on the eve of insurrection; 4. Struggle for opposition ascendancy: 1975–8; 5. Challenges and advances: 1978–85; 6. Triumph: 1985–91; 7. TPLF and the peasants; 8. Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...interesting and stimulating...Peasant Revolution is the first extended and theoretically anchored study that seeks to explore the historical, social, and political forces that led to the birth, growth, and victory of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, and it is a considerable achievement...a significant contribution to peasant studies." International Journal of African Historical Studies

"John Young has done a fine job presenting a most fascinating case." Stephen F. Burgess, Political Science Quarterly

From the Publisher

John Young has done a fine job presenting a most fascinating case.
— Political Science Quarterly

Stephen F. Burgess