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Begin New Search Topic State Formation Political Geography Somalia

1. 'Elders Among Traders': Market Committees and Everyday State Formation in Mogadishu

Author:
Faduma Abukar Mursal
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
When the Somali state collapsed in the early 1990s, traders in the capital Mogadishu formed market committees to protect themselves against theft and extortion and to settle disputes among themselves. These market committees continue to work, even though local government and a federal state have increased their presence in markets that are not controlled by Al-Shabaab. Mogadishu traders have an ambiguous relationship to the state, which they keep alive by remembering, critiquing and desiring it. Traders continue to have an ideal image of the state as a neutral actor above clan-lineages and as a security. At the same time, they distance themselves from the state in order not to be taken for state representatives. As they see it, this would deprive the market committees of their moral credibility, expose them to suspicion and jealousy, as well as retributions from Al-Shabaab. This working paper is written by Faduma Abukar Mursal (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle) and is an output of the research program ‘Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa'.
Topic:
Economy, State Formation, State, and Trade
Political Geography:
Africa and Somalia

2. State-building in Puntland, Somalia: Urban taxation and claims making in Garoowe, Puntland

Author:
Kirstine Strøh Varming
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In a new DIIS Working Paper, ‘The experiential limits of the state: territory and taxation in Garoowe, Puntland’, anthropologist Kirstine Strøh Varming from Roskilde University provides the reader with unique insights into everyday state formation in northeastern Somalia. Based on extensive fieldwork in Puntland’s capital Garoowe this paper highlights how new taxes and attempts to manage urban space contribute to the constitution of state authority. Garoowe Municipality’s efforts to collect a parking tax and to regulate the city’s multiple gas stations trigger both acceptance and rejection of state interventions in the context of a growing Puntland national identity. Both the potentials and limits of state authority become visible in this case study. This DIIS Working Paper is part of the GOVSEA PAPER SERIES (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa) edited by Tobias Hagmann and Finn Stepputat.
Topic:
Governance, State Formation, Tax Systems, Urban, State Building, and Identity
Political Geography:
Somalia and Puntland

3. Sweet secrets in the Horn of Africa: Sugar and politics in the Kenya-Somalia borderlands

Author:
Jacob Rasmussen
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
A new DIIS Working Paper entitled ‘Sweet secrets: sugar smuggling and state formation in the Kenya-Somalia borderlands’ explores the role of Somali militants and the Kenyan army, bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen and truck drivers in the lucrative but dangerous smuggling of sugar between Somalia and Kenya. Jacob Rasmussen, an anthropologist and Associate Professor at Roskilde University, highlights the many vested interests in sugar smuggling in northern Kenya. Sugar smuggling is a ‘sweet secret’ that is publicly known in Kenya, but cannot openly be talked about. It is part of illicit trade networks that not only span the Horn of Africa region, but go hand in hand with state formation dynamics in Kenya. This DIIS Working Paper is part of the GOVSEA PAPER SERIES (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa) edited by Tobias Hagmann and Finn Stepputat.
Topic:
State Formation, Borders, Smuggling, and Sugar
Political Geography:
Kenya, Somalia, and Horn of Africa

4. Bringing the sea back in: Towards a port-centric view of the Somali economy

Author:
Jatin Dua
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Much of the existing scholarship on the Somali peninsula is informed by territorialized assumptions focusing on pastoralism or overland trading. In this working paper Jaitin Dua, an anthropologist and assistant professor at the University of Michigan, proposes a ‘maritime’ view on the Somali economy that highlights the role of ships, ports and seas. Comparing the three port cities of Benderbeyla, Bosaso and Djibouti the author provides insights into the nexus between violent capture, regulation and sovereignty across the Somali territories. What emerges are different modes of port-making that are closely related to global circulation. By bringing the sea back into Somali studies and contemporary anthropology, Dua offers an innovative interpretation of state formation dynamics. This DIIS Working Paper is part of the GOVSEA PAPER SERIES (Governing Economic Hubs and Flows in Somali East Africa) edited by Tobias Hagmann and Finn Stepputat
Topic:
Piracy, Economy, State Formation, Maritime, and Port
Political Geography:
Africa and Somalia