National identity management strategies among students in Washera Qenie school

Based on focus groups and in-depth interviews with Qenie students (n = 66) in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the author explored strategies the students used to maintain or achieve high positive self-esteem and national pride. The results revealed a range of strategies adopted by Qenie students in Washera. These involved assertion of distinctiveness, eternal characterization, identification with the past, conflating Ethiopia with Utopia, and portrayal of holiness. The study has practical implications and contributes to the literature on national identity, specifically on ways of maintaining or maximizing positive social identity among schoolchildren in similar contexts. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.