Jon Abbink

Ethnic Diversity, National Unity

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“This is a thoughtful and fascinating book which addresses a question academically relevant as well as foremost in the minds of many Ethiopians today: how to reconcile the facts and feelings of ethnic diversity and its discursive representations with sources of moral thinking and action in shared spaces. . . . The various contributions break new ground and suggest that religious thinking can provide rich and unifying elements for sociopolitical discourse not only geared towards toleration but also towards acceptance of the ‘Other’ in an overarching framework of symbiosis and understanding that the country needs. . . . When ethnicity or, in some cases, religion are used for developing antagonism or ‘enemy images,’ that is a choice; it is never a necessity or destiny. In this vein, the book offers very interesting reflections and case studies that will interest a broad readership, with crucial elements for developing a new ethical discourse of interaction, acceptance, and unity in diversity, and with the underlying view that humans are all one under the eye of the eternal and can work to realize that vision.”