Professor Yonas Ashine Demisse, Ali Mazrui Senior Fellow in Global African Studies, will present his lecture, “Ethiopia in the Shadow of Empire: Race, Pan-Africanism, and Global Encounters,” as part of The Africa Institute’s Senior and Postdoctoral Fellowship Lectures series. The session will take place on Thursday, October 2, 2025 (12:30–2:30 PM) at The Africa Institute Auditorium, Global Studies University (location map).
The session is free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Ethiopia occupies a unique position in the study of Pan-Africanism, anti/colonialism, and global Black consciousness. Its rich histories, enduring mythologies, and, most notably, its decisive victory against Italian colonial aggression at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 have cemented its role as a symbol of African sovereignty and anti-colonial resistance. Ethiopia’s significance extends beyond its military success. The very etymology of its name—like Sudan—translates to “land of burnt faces,” underscoring its historical and cultural connection to Black identity. In comparison to the term Negro which carried negative connotation, the concept of Ethiopia was preferred as signify “historicity and racial dignity”. This material conditioned Ethiopia as a result of the historical military success complimented the conceptual purchase the term Ethiopia signifies as a remarkable symbolic meaning.
However, this symbolic role has been shaped by contradictions, contested racial categorizations, and an evolving Africa policy that has fluctuated between Pan-African solidarity and strategic pragmatism. These tensions raise fundamental questions: How did Ethiopian elites conceptualize their Blackness within a world order that often positioned them as an anomaly? How did their encounters with colonialism, Pan-Africanism, and global anti-Blackness shape Ethiopia’s diplomacy and self-perception?
Ethiopia’s independence in a continent largely under colonial rule placed it in an ambivalent position within the racialized global order of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While Ethiopia’s sovereignty directly challenged European racial logics, its leaders were not immune to the ideological influence of colonial taxonomies. The victory at Adwa created a crisis of categorization for European scholars and policymakers, leading to competing narratives about Ethiopia’s racial identity. Was Ethiopia an African nation defined by Blackness, or was it to be understood as an exceptional civilization, distinct from the racialized continent it inhabited? This debate mirrored the racialized experiences of Black intellectuals elsewhere, paralleling the” double consciousness” articulated by W.E.B. Du Bois and the phenomenology of Blackness described by Frantz Fanon.
The tension between Ethiopia’s geopolitical status and racial identification shaped its evolving Africa policy. While Ethiopia was celebrated within Pan-Africanist circles as a source of inspiration, Ethiopian elites often exhibited an ambivalent relationship with Black identity. Influenced by European racial taxonomies—such as the Hamitic hypothesis, which positioned Ethiopians as a civilized” exception within Africa—some Ethiopian leaders oscillated between embracing Pan-African solidarity and seeking strategic alignments with European powers. This ambivalence was reflected in the country’s diplomatic engagements, its reception of African American delegations, and its leaders’ interactions with both colonized and colonizing powers.
This lecture examines Ethiopia’s Africa policy through the lens of intellectual history, focusing on the period between the late 19th century and 1910. It argues that Ethiopia’s evolving racial consciousness and its engagement with Pan-Africanism were shaped by three key encounters: first, its engagement with European colonialism, which exposed Ethiopian elites to the racialized hierarchies of the imperial world; second, its interactions with African Americans and the broader Black diaspora, who saw Ethiopia as a beacon of African sovereignty; and third, the experiences of Ethiopian leaders and diplomats who traveled to the United States and Europe, where they encountered firsthand the realities of global anti-Blackness.
Yonas Ashine Demisse is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and is currently the Ali Mazrui Senior Fellow in Global African Studies at The Africa Institute, GSU. Read more.
Surafel Wondimu Abebe is Assistant Professor of Performance Studies and Theory at The Africa Institute, GSU. Read more.
Professor Yonas Ashine Demisse, Ali Mazrui Senior Fellow in Global African Studies, will present his lecture, “Ethiopia in the Shadow of Empire: Race, Pan-Africanism, and Global Encounters,” as part of The Africa Institute’s Senior and Postdoctoral Fellowship Lectures series. The session will take place on Thursday, October 2, 2025 (12:30–2:30 PM) at The Africa Institute Auditorium, Global Studies University (location map).
Professor Yonas Ashine Demisse, Ali Mazrui Senior Fellow in Global African Studies, will present his lecture, “Ethiopia in the Shadow of Empire: Race, Pan-Africanism, and Global Encounters,” as part of The Africa Institute’s Senior and Postdoctoral Fellowship Lectures series. The session will take place on Thursday, October 2, 2025 (12:30–2:30 PM) at The Africa Institute Auditorium, Global Studies University (location map).
The session is free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Ethiopia occupies a unique position in the study of Pan-Africanism, anti/colonialism, and global Black consciousness. Its rich histories, enduring mythologies, and, most notably, its decisive victory against Italian colonial aggression at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 have cemented its role as a symbol of African sovereignty and anti-colonial resistance. Ethiopia’s significance extends beyond its military success. The very etymology of its name—like Sudan—translates to “land of burnt faces,” underscoring its historical and cultural connection to Black identity. In comparison to the term Negro which carried negative connotation, the concept of Ethiopia was preferred as signify “historicity and racial dignity”. This material conditioned Ethiopia as a result of the historical military success complimented the conceptual purchase the term Ethiopia signifies as a remarkable symbolic meaning.
However, this symbolic role has been shaped by contradictions, contested racial categorizations, and an evolving Africa policy that has fluctuated between Pan-African solidarity and strategic pragmatism. These tensions raise fundamental questions: How did Ethiopian elites conceptualize their Blackness within a world order that often positioned them as an anomaly? How did their encounters with colonialism, Pan-Africanism, and global anti-Blackness shape Ethiopia’s diplomacy and self-perception?
Ethiopia’s independence in a continent largely under colonial rule placed it in an ambivalent position within the racialized global order of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While Ethiopia’s sovereignty directly challenged European racial logics, its leaders were not immune to the ideological influence of colonial taxonomies. The victory at Adwa created a crisis of categorization for European scholars and policymakers, leading to competing narratives about Ethiopia’s racial identity. Was Ethiopia an African nation defined by Blackness, or was it to be understood as an exceptional civilization, distinct from the racialized continent it inhabited? This debate mirrored the racialized experiences of Black intellectuals elsewhere, paralleling the” double consciousness” articulated by W.E.B. Du Bois and the phenomenology of Blackness described by Frantz Fanon.
The tension between Ethiopia’s geopolitical status and racial identification shaped its evolving Africa policy. While Ethiopia was celebrated within Pan-Africanist circles as a source of inspiration, Ethiopian elites often exhibited an ambivalent relationship with Black identity. Influenced by European racial taxonomies—such as the Hamitic hypothesis, which positioned Ethiopians as a civilized” exception within Africa—some Ethiopian leaders oscillated between embracing Pan-African solidarity and seeking strategic alignments with European powers. This ambivalence was reflected in the country’s diplomatic engagements, its reception of African American delegations, and its leaders’ interactions with both colonized and colonizing powers.
This lecture examines Ethiopia’s Africa policy through the lens of intellectual history, focusing on the period between the late 19th century and 1910. It argues that Ethiopia’s evolving racial consciousness and its engagement with Pan-Africanism were shaped by three key encounters: first, its engagement with European colonialism, which exposed Ethiopian elites to the racialized hierarchies of the imperial world; second, its interactions with African Americans and the broader Black diaspora, who saw Ethiopia as a beacon of African sovereignty; and third, the experiences of Ethiopian leaders and diplomats who traveled to the United States and Europe, where they encountered firsthand the realities of global anti-Blackness.
Yonas Ashine Demisse is an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and is currently the Ali Mazrui Senior Fellow in Global African Studies at The Africa Institute, GSU. Read more.
Surafel Wondimu Abebe is Assistant Professor of Performance Studies and Theory at The Africa Institute, GSU. Read more.
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