Tigray: The Hysteresis of War, Book 1

edited by Mirjam van Reisen and Munyaradzi Mawere

The Tigray War (2020–2022) may have claimed as many as 700,000 lives. Fought between the national defence forces of Ethiopia and Eritrea and the Tigray Defence Forces, the conflict unleashed horrific atrocities on civilians, including widespread massacres. The war was shrouded in secrecy due to a communications blackout and a siege on Tigray, making it nearly impossible for people in the region to report on events and for the outside world to grasp the scale of the tragedy. This book, the first in a three-part series, uncovers Eritrea’s concealed role in the war, including its involvement in massacres and particularly cruel and inhumane sexual violence. These acts were designed not only to terrorise, but to break the spirit of the Tigrayan people, with the aim of erasing Tigray as an ethnic and cultural group. This book also explores how the war has fundamentally altered the Tigray region—a transformation that may be difficult to reverse—described through the lens of the concept of hysteresis. Drawing on a collaborative investigation between universities inside and outside Ethiopia, and primarily employing an ethnographic approach, the study concludes that genocide may have occurred in Tigray. The international community, it argues, has a duty to investigate these claims.

Mirjam van Reisen

Mirjam van Reisen is Professor of ‘International Relations, Innovation and Care’ at Tilburg University, and Professor ‘Computing for Society’ at Leiden University.

Munyaradzi Mawere

Munyaradzi Mawere is a Professor in the Simon Muzenda School of Arts, Culture and Heritage Studies at Great Zimbabwe University. He holds a PhD in Social Anthropology; a Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology; a second Master’s Degree in Philosophy; a third Master’s Degree in Development Studies; BA (Hons) Degree in Philosophy; Certificate in Tertiary and Higher Learning; Certificate in Information Technology; and a Certificate in Diplomacy, Negotiation and Bargaining. He is an author of more than 50 books and over 200 academic publications straddling the following areas: poverty and development studies, African philosophy, cultural philosophy, democracy, politics of food production, humanitarianism and civil society organisations, urban anthropology, existential anthropology, environmental anthropology, society and politics, religion, decoloniality and African studies.