The chapter circles back to the locality of Bale and to the role of local actors. Detailing the many different aspects of the local conflictual dynamics, it starts by revisiting the question of class. It explores in particular the relevance of class in relation to religion and ethnicity, arguing for interpretations that view these categories as interrelated. It connects the notion of peoplehood to a discussion of how the insurgents themselves formulated and articulated the movement’s objectives. It subsequently investigates the role of the highland activists, arguing that these were instrumental for further elaborating the movement’s ideological thinking and, moreover, that religion and ethnicity remained foundational in this regard. The questions of religion and ethnicity are further fleshed out in the chapter’s second part, which discusses how deeply affective and embodied the religious and ethnic dimensions were in the broader population, and how the insurgency represented an expression of deeply felt popular sentiments. The chapter also discusses how Amhara exceptionalism was articulated and experienced in Bale, focusing on the role of religion and ethnicity as integral to politics of domination. It demonstrates how this strengthened the notion of Islaama peoplehood in Bale, cementingantagonistic attitudes – eventually becoming manifest through the insurgency.

The chapter discusses the material realities of Bale, describing its variety of topographical and ecological particularities. It underscores these landscapes as more than empty canvases for human activities, discussing how they affected and shaped human lives, and how the people imprinted themselves upon the land. The chapter moreover explores the history of the Arsi Oromo in Bale, paying attention to the process of gradual Islamization and how the Muslim Arsi Oromo came to put their own mark on the new religion, carving it into the landscape in the form of shrines and through well-traveled paths leading to these shrines. It emphasizes how the Islamic dimension became crucial in the formation of Islaama peoplehood, which on the one hand was locally emplaced and on the other hand transcended local boundaries. It similarly points to how Islam was embodied in genealogies of religious figures that were fused with narratives of Oromo ancestors, rooted in experiences of embodied kinship relations. Extending this to a discussion of the sociocultural features of the Arsi Oromo, the chapters underscores Islaama peoplehood as not merely an exclusively religious category but something encompassing both ethnicity and religion as foundational dimensions, thus denoting belonging in a strong affective manner.