| | The concern of this article is with explaining the difference between the two Eritrean liberation movements. It argues against Pool's thesis in ROAPE 19 that the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) was rooted in the pastoral lowland people and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) was able to transcend its practices as it drew on a 'higher' agricultural mode of production in the highlands. Instead it is argued that the composition of both movements was not dissimilar, but that the original ELF gained from the popular movement of serf rebellion in the pastoral areas, but then split as it was only the breakaway EPLF that could, through its political and ideological stance, successfully tackle the problem of agrarian reform in the agricultural areas. |
