Scouting: Training the “New Man” in Post-liberation Ethiopia

  • Katrin Bromber (PhD in African Linguistics and Habilitation in African Studies, Senior Research Fellow at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO), Berlin)

Abstract

Although Boy Scouting emerged in Ethiopia as early as 1919, it was after the end of the Italian occupation (1935–41) that the movement gained momentum as an important part of youth training. The re-organization of the Boy Scouts under the Ministry of Education and Fine Arts as well as its coupling with Sports and Physical Education hints at the fact that Boy Scouting and, later, Girl Guiding were considered an integral part of education. The article looks at hiking and camping as a specific practice to link the youth to the (national) soil, to train survival and to instil leadership. It further shows that the “New Man” is not restricted to the demographic category of youth, but can include Ethiopian officials up to the highest ranks as well as local and foreign experts who re-organized the movement in Ethiopia.

Available Formats

Published

2018

How to Cite

Bromber, K. (2018). Scouting: Training the “New Man” in Post-liberation Ethiopia. omparativ, 28(5), 22–37. https://doi.org/10.26014/j.comp.2018.05.02