Ye Merabawian Seltanena Ityopiawian Be Amerika: Maheberawina Senelibonawi Tentena [Western Civilization and Ethiopians in America] (review)

For the first time in Ethiopian history, millions of Ethiopians are residing outside their own country, mainly in Western Europe and North America, and the term "Ethio-Americans" is now frequently used to describe diaspora communities in the United States. The development of the Ethiopian diaspora has had tremendous sociopolitical, demographic, and psycho-cultural implications. Research on the implications of the Ethiopian diaspora has nevertheless attracted the attention of only a limited number of scholars in comparison to the number of scholars who have studied other communities of immigrants from Third World countries.¹

How are Ethiopians negotiating their identities and adjusting to the environments they encounter in their newfound lands? How are Ethiopian immigrants affecting the societies in which they live? How do the democratic environments in which they live contribute to the reshaping of political discourses at home? How are the Ethiopians immigrating to the United States under the Diversity Visa (DV) category faring? These are some of the questions that Tadesse's book attempts to answer. Employing an investigative historical style and providing insights from his area of expertise, clinical psychology, the author offers a sympathetic and valuable perspective on the complex and multifaceted experiences of the Ethiopians in the diaspora.

Tadesse begins his quest for knowledge and guiding ideas with a conceptual analysis of civilization. He moves into the area of Western civilization, and then into the area of Ethiopia's own long, rich experience of civilization. He then uses civilization as a framework within which Ethiopians should be able to arrive at a sound estimation of their identities as they encounter sociocultural patterns other than their own. Tadesse looks at the psychological traits of American society in order to help Ethiopians understand the sociocultural structures in which they live and work. Without demeaning Western civilization and the global role it has played, he calls for a new and nuanced understanding of the notion of civilization in which the emphasis is placed not on high-tech gadgets and material achievements but on the normative values from which people draw inspiration for achieving collective survival and individual strength.

Subsequent chapters deal with subjects such as the cultural conflicts that Ethiopians experience in their encounter with Western societies and the resultant implications, the overall state of the new "Ethio American" generation, gender issues, the challenges of marriage and socialization, the role of religion, and the vital connection between Western education and Ethiopians. Admitting that all of these subjects are of critical importance and that each of them requires separate, detailed, and thorough investigation, Tadesse tackles them comprehensively and in a way the general reader can easily understand.

Demonstrating his knowledge of the broader contours of Ethiopian culture, Tadesse intersperses his narrative with proverbial wisdom that graces his work and makes it enjoyable to read. His sympathetic probing into the psycho-cultural conditions of Ethiopian immigrants offers not only a new overall picture but also illustrations of these immigrants' individual experiences, with all their possibilities and challenges. Tadesse touches upon the crucial yet neglected area of family life and the challenges of the different and sometimes conflicting Ethiopian and American approaches to socialization.

The author offers a remarkable exposé of the role of religion, in particular the role of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), in identity reconstruction and as a focal point of social bonding and community formation. While emphasizing the EOC's role, however, Tadesse also gives recognition to the sizable communities of evangelical Ethiopians in the United States and highlights the importance of the autonomy and voluntaristic impulses of evangelical Christianity as an alternative expression of the Christian faith. Tadesse's balanced analysis enables him to appreciate both faith groups in both their strengths and their limitations.

Despite its contributions, the book is not without some shortcomings. There are important themes to which the author has not given sufficient attention. The influential role of diaspora communities in shaping political discourses in...