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"Daniel Mains"
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Hope Is Cut
How do ambitious young men grapple with an unemployment rate in urban Ethiopia hovering around fifty percent? Urban, educated, and unemployed young men have been the primary force behind the recent unrest and revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East. Daniel Mains' detailed and moving ethnographic study,Hope is Cut, examines young men's struggles to retain hope for the future in the midst of economic uncertainty and cultural globalization.
Through a close ethnographic examination of young men's day-to-day livesHope is Cutexplores the construction of optimism through activities like formal schooling, the consumption of international films, and the use of khat, a mild stimulant.
Mains also provides a consideration of social theories concerning space, time, and capitalism. Young men here experience unemployment as a problem of time-they often congregate on street corners, joking that the only change in their lives is the sun rising and setting. Mains addresses these factors and the importance of reciprocity and international migration as a means of overcoming the barriers to attaining aspirations.
eBook
BLACKOUTS AND PROGRESS: Privatization, Infrastructure, and a Developmentalist State in Jimma, Ethiopia
The recent completion of a hydropower dam near Jimma, Ethiopia coincided with rolling blackouts throughout the country and accusations of corruption and mismanagement being directed toward the Ethiopian government and the Italian company that constructed the dam. The case appears to be one more example of an African state failing to provide its citizens with basic public services in a context of neoliberal economic restructuring. Recent road construction and urban renewal projects in Jimma have also been contracted out to private companies and have led to displaced families and disruptions of day-to-day life. Jimma residents, however, have generally met these projects with statements of approval and appreciation for the power of the Ethiopian state to bring progress. In this article, I examine contrasting narratives concerning privatized infrastructural development projects. I argue that although the provision of basic services is increasingly contracted out to private companies, the perceived presence of the Ethiopian state has expanded in new and surprising ways. Contrasting perceptions of dams and road construction are based in values concerning relations of power and exchange. In this case, the particular relationship between the privatization of infrastructure and perceptions of the state demonstrates the limits of neoliberalism as an analytical category. I argue that in recent anthropological scholarship a reliance on neoliberalism as a category of analysis obscures more than it reveals, and I call for more attention to correlations between specific techniques of governance and relations of power.
Journal Article
Neoliberal times: Progress, boredom, and shame among young men in urban Ethiopia
In this article, I examine discourses and practices surrounding employment, the experience of time, and international migration among young men in urban Ethiopia to demonstrate the value and limits of understanding cultural and economic processes in terms of neoliberal capitalism. Young men's inability to experience progress and take on the normative responsibilities of adults is conditioned by economic policies associated with structural adjustment and local values surrounding occupational status. Young men construct international migration as a solution to their temporal problems. I argue that local values surrounding status and shame highlight the importance of social relationships for conceptualizing time and space.
Journal Article
Friends and money: Balancing affection and reciprocity among young men in urban Ethiopia
In Jimma, Ethiopia, young men's friendships involve affection and reciprocal exchange of material goods, and in many cases the balance between the two creates conflicts. I examine tensions concerning exchange and friendship in relation to literature on love and transactional sex in Africa to argue for a conception of friendship that does not assume that calculation and self-interest conflict with affection. For friends in urban Ethiopia, affection and material interest are inextricable, and this often generates feelings of jealousy and mistrust. Similarities in the ways lovers and friends struggle to balance affection and exchange indicate that sex and romantic love may not be the primary sources of tension within relationships. I argue that friendship is often a particularly flexible and ambiguous relationship, and in comparison to relations between lovers, this flexibility reduces conflicts between those involved.
Journal Article
Too much time: Changing conceptions of boredom, progress, and the future among young men in urban Ethiopia, 2003-2015
In the context of unprecedented rates of urban unemployment, in the early 2000s young men in Ethiopia struggled with an overabundance of time. I examine changes in urban young men's experiences of time and progress over a period of 13 years to better understand the nature of boredom and modernity. Young men simultaneously experienced a sense a linear progress in their own lives, and feelings of frustration when shifts in their built environment did not translate into a more abstract sense of change. Ultimately I argue that in contrast to conceptions of boredom that emerge out of the West, Ethiopian boredom was profoundly social in the sense that it was based on an inability to experience progress in one's relations of reciprocity with others.
Journal Article
Governing three-wheeled motorcycle taxis in urban Ethiopia: States, markets, and moral discourses of infrastructure
Taxi drivers in Hawassa, Ethiopia, have come into conflict with government administrators over the strict regulation of their three-wheeled motorcycle taxis, known as Bajaj. Their conflict with the government is best conceptualized not through a state-market binary but in relation to competing moral discourses concerning modernity, reciprocity, and the right to a livelihood. Such discourses are mediated by the particular characteristics of the Bajaj, an inexpensive, flexible, and labor-dependent transportation technology. These discourses have emerged in a context in which urban Ethiopians and their social networks act as the infrastructure that enables cities to function. The encounter between these social networks and vital technologies such as the Bajaj is fundamental to the politics of infrastructure. በሃዋሳ, ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ታክሲ ሾፌሮች ከእርስበርስ ጋር ተጋጭተዋል የመንግስት ኃላፊዎች ጥብቅ ቁጥጥሩን በተመለከተ ጥብቅ ቁጥጥር ይደረግባቸዋል ባለ ሦስት ጎማ ሞተር ብስክሌት, ባጃጅ በመባል ይታወቃል. ግጭታቸው መንግስት ከመንፈኛው የተሻለ ሐሳብ ነው ሀ የስቴት-ገበያ ሁለትዮሽ እንጂ ከተፎካካሪ ባህሪ ጋር በተዛመደ ነው ዘመናዊነት, መልከቻ, እና ለ የኑሮ ሁኔታ. እንደነዚህ ያሉት ንግግሮች በተገቢው ይካፈላሉ የባጃጅ ባህሪያት, ርካሽ, ተለዋዋጭ, እና የሰው ኃይል-ጥገኛ ትራንዚት ቴክኖሎጂ. እነዚህ ንግግሮች የከተማ ኢትዮጵያውያን / ት ዜጎች እና / ማህበራዊ አውታረ መረቦች እንደ ከተማ መሠረተ-ልማት የሚያገለግሉ መሰረተ ልማቶች ናቸው ተግባር. በእነዚህ ማህበራዊ አውታረ መረቦች እና እንደ ባጃጅ ያሉ አስፈላጊ ቴክኖሎጂዎች ለ (ወሳኝ) መሠረታዊ ናቸው የመሠረተ ልማት አውታሮች, [ግዛት, ገበያ, መጓጓዣ, የመሰረተ ልማት, ኢትዮጵያ, አፍሪካ]
Journal Article
Making the city of nations and nationalities: the politics of ethnicity and roads in Hawassa, Ethiopia
This article examines the relationship between the politics of ethnicity and road construction in Hawassa, Ethiopia. The Ethiopian state has recently invested unprecedented amounts of money in the construction of urban roads. These roads both undermine and reinforce longstanding ethnic hierarchies within Ethiopian cities. Contrary to the image promoted by the state of harmony among residents of different ethnic backgrounds, our research revealed a great deal of tension, particularly concerning the distribution of benefits from state-led infrastructural development. The experiences of residents in rapidly changing neighbourhoods, demonstrate that the benefits of recent road construction are not necessarily distributed according to the policies of the current regime. Instead, historical inequalities interact with contemporary urban development in ways that may actually disrupt the state's vision of unity through diversity. Stratification is built into the city and attempts to reshape the city necessarily interact with recent and long-standing inequalities.
Journal Article
Too much time
In the context of unprecedented rates of urban unemployment, in the early 2000s young men in Ethiopia struggled with an overabundance of time. I examine changes in urban young men’s experiences of time and progress over a period of 13 years to better understand the nature of boredom and modernity. Young men simultaneously experienced a sense a linear progress in their own lives, and feelings of frustration when shift s in their built environment did not translate into a more abstract sense of change. Ultimately I argue that in contrast to conceptions of boredom that emerge out of the West, Ethiopian boredom was profoundly social in the sense that it was based on an inability to experience progress in one’s relations of reciprocity with others.
Journal Article