Indigenous Voluntary Urban Associations and Thereby Community Solidarity among Residents of Debre Markos Town, Ethiopia
Membership to indigenous voluntary urban associations suggest the nature of communalities that members have in terms of their concerns and ways of dealing with them in daily life which can be indicator of the form of community solidarity that would likely exist in the society. The main objective of this paper was to examine the state of voluntary urban associations and thereby community solidarity among residents of Debre Markos town; Ethiopia. Both primary and secondary sources were employed. Household survey and In-depth interviews were the principal means of generating primary data. A total of 384 sample household heads were selected through systematic random sampling. On top of this in depth interview was employed with 18 residents. The survey data was analyzed using descriptive statistics where as the qualitative data was analyzed in words to supplement the quantitative data. The findings of this study confirm that a substantial number of the residents of the town are member of the three voluntary associations; Edir, Ekub and Mahiber. These voluntary urban associations are among the mechanisms of maintaining their social and cultural identities of the community and further are important to establish good relationship with members of the community. Due to this it contributes to the maintenance of the longestablished forms of solidarity in the society.
