Historical Narratives from Colonial and Independence to Unison and Pluralist: The Oromo Politics since the 1970s

Abstract

Historical narratives of the Oromoo politics passed through several challenges without much modification from the 1970s to 2010s. However, it began to be changed fundamentally since the middle of the 2010s because of the dramatic shift of the Oromoo political goals. This article is an attempt to discuss the dynamics of these historical narratives along with the dramatic shift of the Oromoo political goals. For the purpose of this discussion, document analysis historical method has been employed by consulting and critically reviewing divergent categories of documents. Then, it is found out that the Oromoo historical narratives have apparently changed from colonial thesis targeted “Gadaa Oromia” (“Independent Republic of Oromia”) to unison and pluralist thesis targeting “Greater Oromia” (“Cushitic Ethiopia”) in place of the “Semitic Ethiopia” with the socio-cultural, political and economic dominance of “Oromumma” in which the overall rights of the minorities are respected.