Co-Sponsored with the Center for African Studies, the Center for European and Russian Studies, and the Department of Anthropology

Abstract: Nicknamed “the North Korea of Africa” by political pundits, the small Horn of Africa state, Eritrea appears as a historical anachronism, at once insular and exercising quasi-totalitarian rule over its population, and at the same time experiencing an unprecedented crisis of de-population. Arbitrary detention, disappearance and retributive violence against family members has driven Eritreans to leave their countries, and during the summer of the “European migration crisis” of 2015, Eritreans were one of the large populations to arrive in Europe. However, the case of Eritrea is more than meets the eye. As one of the earliest instances of long-distance authoritarianism, Eritrea’s ruling party has consolidated political hegemony amongst its dispersed population—comprising nearly 50% of the total population—while at the same time generating individual and collective 'spontaneous loyalty.' Based on 20 months of fieldwork in amongst Eritrean activists in Italy, I analyze how that loyalty has been built over time and space amongst a dispersed population of refugees, by looking towards kinship as a technology of political rule.

Please email duranasaydee@ucla.edu for the zoom link. 

Sponsor(s): Center for Study of International Migration, African Studies Center, Center for European and Russian Studies, Anthropology