Title:
IT IS WE WHO WILL NEED TO PRESERVE OUR TRADITION: IDENTITY CONSOLIDATION OF ETHIOPIAN YOUTH VIA AN ETHNIC CELEBRATION

Authors:
Rachel sharaby ,Israel

Abstract:
This article focuses on the manner in which the ethnic identity of Ethiopian youth consolidates via an ethnic celebration. The article attempts to explain the ethnic phenomenon of thousands of Ethiopian youth who arrive en masse to the site of a traditional religious celebration called the Seged, from their perspective. This holiday is, in essence, not entertaining. Rather, it is a day of fasting and prayer. The findings show that their participation in the celebrations, with a selective return to their traditional roots, strengthens their sense of confidence and pride in their ethnic identity, the connection to their community of origin, and their belonging to the absorbing society. With the celebrations, they mark their ethnic boundaries and conduct negotiation over their place in the social and cultural space. Political-social leaders who headed organisations of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel played a major role as socialisation agents in the youth’s identity consolidation