Road to Violence: Land Alienation, Road Deaths and State-Making in the Lower Omo Valley, South-West Ethiopia

Violence linked to large-scale commercial agriculture, particularly road deaths, is often overlooked. In Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley, the development of sugar cane plantations has led to numerous fatalities and injuries among agro-pastoralists, triggering retaliatory killings primarily targeting vehicle users. These acts have been interpreted as resistance to land alienation. However, this study refines that understanding by examining the selective legal prosecution of homicides in the region. It reveals how competing social orders—those of the agro-pastoralists and the state—interact, highlighting a process where the state monopolizes violence by determining 'which violences matter.' The research underscores the official silence around road deaths and the state's violent response to revenge killings as indicative of broader state-making dynamics.

Buffavand, L. (2025). ROAD TO VIOLENCE: LAND ALIENATION, ROAD DEATHS AND STATE-MAKING IN THE LOWER OMO VALLEY, SOUTH-WEST ETHIOPIA. Nomadic Peoples, 29(2), 256–277. https://doi.org/10.3828/whpnp.63837646691077