The paradox of the Ethiopian Developmental State

Bureaucrats and politicians in the sugar industry

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11422845
AutoresFana Gebresenbet (0000-0002-8376-7068, Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Benedikt Kamski (Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institute (ABI), University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, autor de correspondencia)
Año2019
Volumen37
Número4
Páginas335-350
Fecha de publicación2019-10-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Contemporary African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0258-9001 • E-ISSN: 1469-9397
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02589001.2020.1716963
OpenAlexW3003480942
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas27

This paper challenges the commonplace characterisation of Ethiopia as a developmental state, by stressing that the Ethiopian model, which heavily relies on political control of the rent process at the expense of the bureaucratic knowledge/expertise, is not conducive for industrial policy implementation. We show that this approach worked fine at early stages of growth, however with the increasing complexity, knowledge- and capital-intensive nature of industrial policy-making and implementation, the crucial role to be played by a capable bureaucracy becomes more evident. This argument is based on the avoidable failures of sugar industrialisation visions, mainly due to the inimical view of the existing sugar bureaucracy in the old sugar factories. Drawing on long-term case study research on state-led sugar industrialisation, this article illustrates that if the Ethiopian state is to become truly ‘developmental’ the need of building a capable bureaucracy as an integral part of the model should be recognised and worked towards

Argument (complex analysis · Bureaucracy · Capital (architecture · Developmental state · Economic growth · Economic system · Economics · Industrial policy · Industrialisation · Market economy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Vision · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Asian Industrial and Economic Development · CRISPR and Genetic Engineering · Law