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Ethiopia is known for the staggering scale of its planned resettlement schemes, in which the government is conservatively estimated to have moved 1·2 million people over 30-5 years. The 1980s schemes are already known to have had disastrous consequences environmentally, socially and economically. What is less well known is that there have been similar initiatives in the last decade. Pankhurst and Piguet's edited volume compares these two resettlement experiences, but goes much further to bring together detailed descriptions and analysis of state-run planned resettlement with other forms of displacement such as development-induced displacement and displacement by war. A powerful case is made that much can be learnt from considering these different forms of displacement together, empirically, analytically, and for policy purposes.
The cases are written mostly by Ethiopian and international anthropologists who have rich local knowledge and years of engagement with their subject areas. Overall, the story that emerges is depressing: the experiences are of 'untold suffering' (p. 247); Gebre Yntiso summarises: 'When resettlements are envisaged, their intentions often appear noble and honourable. The contradiction is that the outcomes are often contrary to expectations' (p. 125). The first set of...