The Extraction of Heroic Capital in Eritrea

Abstract: This essay examines how the Eritrean state converted the moral authority of the armed struggle into a durable political resource. It argues that the category of tegadalay (fighter) flattened unequal wartime experiences into a single claim of equal sacrifice, allowing ruling elites to extract legitimacy from the suffering of ordinary fighters. By separating fighters, conscripts, and civilians into ranked moral categories, the state transformed sacrifice into an instrument of civic alienation and political paralysis. A democratic future requires dismantling this heroic hierarchy and recovering a shared civic identity beyond state-san…