The Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, comprising about half of the total Ethiopian population. Since their incorporation into the Ethiopian State in the last decades of the 19th century, the Oromo have been treated as colonial subjects and second-class citizens. As a result, they have not been able to develop independent institutions that would allow them to produce and disseminate historical knowledge. Ethiopian studies have focused primarily on the Amhara and Tigray, ignoring the history of the Oromo. Currently, the Oromo are fighting for national self-determination and independence. Oromo studies are emerging which challenge the top-down paradigm of conventional Ethiopian studies and attempt to replace colonial history by a history of liberation. This essay explores how the emergent Oromo studies have identified some deficiencies of Ethiopian studies and how many Ethiopian and Ethiopianist knowledge elites have reacted to these new Oromo studies. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
