Somalia: Creating Space for Fresh Approaches to Peacebuilding

ashley lyn greene
2 Lewis, I.M., A Modern History
of Somalia: Nation and State in the
Horn of Africa (Boulder: Westview
Press, 1988), p. ix.
3 Lewis, I.M., ‘Introduction’, ed.
I.M. Lewis, Nationalism and Self-
Determination in the Horn of Africa
(London: Ithaca Press, 1983), p. 9.
4 When tracing the history of
southern migration Lewis notes
that Somali expansion “was not
a concerted operation under a
single direction: it was a disjointed
series of clan and lineage
movements in which there were
many cross-currents of migration
as group jostled group in the
search for new pastures”. Lewis,
I.M., A Modern History of Somalia,
pp. 15-32.
5 Ibid., pp. x-xi.
6 Ibid., p. xi.
7 Mahaddala, H., ‘Pithless
nationalism: the Somali case’,
ed. A.M. Kusow, Putting the
Cart Before the Horse: Contested
Nationalism and the Crisis of the
Nation-State in Somalia (Trenton:
The Red Sea Press, 2004.), p. 60.
8 Ibid., p. 69.
9 Kusow, A.M., ‘Contested
narratives and the crisis of
the nation-state in Somalia: a
prolegomenon’, ed. A.M. Kusow,
Putting the Cart Before the Horse:
Contested Nationalism and the
Crisis of the Nation-State in Somalia
(Trenton: The Red Sea Press,
2004.), pp. 1-2.
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fosters a nationalist sentiment that drives the struggle to achieve cultural unity and
transcend identity based solely on territorial boundaries arbitrarily drawn by foreign
powers. This process ultimately transforms defunct colonial possessions, plagued
by cultural heterogeneity and ethnic conflict, into viable modern-day states. 2
Somalia scholar I.M. Lewis states that although colonialism historically represented
a powerful fulcrum around which nationalist sentiment has coalesced, Somali
nationalism is a “centuries old phenomenon” originating from shared cultural
traits and traditions that precede colonial divisions of Somali land and presage
dissatisfaction with the territorial boundaries imposed by Europeans. 3 While Lewis
recognizes clan rivalries and societal inequalities, often used to argue against the
existence of a cohesive Somali nation, he maintains that narratives of origin and
migration represent a “national genealogy in which ultimately every Somali group
finds a place”. 4 Assertions of pre-colonial Somali nationalism are crucial for understanding
nationalist sentiments regarding territory. As Lewis articulates,
The formation in 1960 of a Somali state … applied to the former British and Italian
Somali territories, established a state which was inherently incomplete. It left outside
the goal of Somali nationalist aspirations the remaining three Somali communities
then under foreign rule in the French territory of Jibuti, in Harar Province of Ethiopia
(mainly the Ogaden), and in the northern province of Kenya (then still British). 5
Unlike other African nationalists, who “sought to transform their fragile tribal
mosaics into cohesive nations”, Somalis aimed to extend the frontiers of the state
to encompass the three remaining Somali colonies and thus reunite their sundered
nation. 6
A second set of scholars on the opposite spectrum of the debate contends that
historians have mistakenly attributed age-old feelings of “oneness” to Somalis. 7
Unlike “organic” nationalist sentiments, which develop around common characteristics
such as race and language, Somali nationalism was “in large measure, an
anti-colonial phenomenon, whose ultimate aim was to overthrow an unjust system
of government”. 8 With the departure of colonial powers and the cessation of active
conflict with neighboring states, Somalis who coalesced under common conditions
of oppression reverted to tribe and clan-based national politics that revolved around
resource allocation and domestic power struggles. These scholars assert that
nationalist movements have constructed false impressions of a homogenous and
fundamentally egalitarian society that, in reality, is deeply divided and hierarchical.
Thus Abdi M. Kusow claims that Somali nationalism has developed out of competing
narratives, which ultimately construct social boundaries of “Somaliness”. 9
Certain segments and clans are incorporated into these boundaries while others
are excluded. Common lineage narratives, which trace Somalis’ origins to non-
indigenous Muslim ancestors, exclude those with African ancestry (Bantu-Jarer)
and non-Islamic traditions. Clans are ranked according to means of livelihood,
lineage and location, and the legitimacy of territorial claims. Because “social,
economic and territorial priorities and values” are shaped largely by ideas about
land ownership, competing interpretations of national narratives and territory