Mobilising ‘The Diaspora’: Somali Transnational Political Engagement

Abstract

Recently, the development initiatives of so-called ‘diasporas’ have gained the attention of policy-makers, scholars, NGOs, and migrants themselves. Migrants and ‘diasporas’ are seen as agents of development, who not only remit money to their countries of origin, but also transfer ideas of political, social, and cultural change. This article examines linkages between identity, transnational politics and development. Logics of transnational mobilisation and loyalties are analysed through a case study of a Somali transnational conference, paying particular attention to tensions between lineage affiliation and regional identification. At the conference, the establishment of trust between different transnational actors was seen as an important step towards reconciliation and development. Framing the event as ‘a meeting between intellectuals’ and as ‘the diaspora’, conference participants were positioned as agents of development and change. The article argues that ‘diaspora position’ is thereby linked to questions of identity, the recognition of status, and the enactment of proper and respectable masculinity.

Keywords:

• Development
• Identity
• Masculinity
• Somali Diaspora
• Transnationalism

Acknowledgements

I thank the DOEA conference delegates and organisers for their time, friendliness and willingness to share their opinions and stories with me. Likewise, I thank the organisers and participants in the AEGIS workshop, the anonymous JEMS reader as well as Ninna Nyberg Sørensen, Lars Bo Kaspersen, Kristina Grünenberg and Margareta Bertilsson for inspiring questions and comments.

Notes

1. In order to improve my understanding of the conference, I asked several of the organisers to go through my report and I discussed the events with them in Danish or English. I thereby supplemented the translation and gained a wider insight into the social relations at play during the conference. Participating in the conference and the follow-up was a pleasure as I was treated in a most cordial and friendly fashion by everyone. I have used pseudonyms to protect the confidentiality of associations and informants.

2. Putnam's employment of social capital is as a measure of civic engagement in territorially defined entities, such as regions or nation-states. While I do not think we can transfer his general idea to the Somali lineage system, the concept of bridging versus bonding social relations can be used to illuminate the tensions of loyalties and belonging at play at the conference.

3. The political situation in the south of Somalia continues to be highly insecure. In October 2004, a Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was elected in Nairobi, relocated to Jowhar in July 2005, and a first parliamentary session took place in Baidoa in February 2006. Four months after, in June 2006, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) took over Mogadishu but was ousted at the end of 2006 by TFG troops, backed by Ethiopian forces. Battles between Ethiopian troops and UIC supporters continued in 2007.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nauja Kleist

Nauja Kleist is Project Researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies