Insurgent engagement with kinship group authorities: production of order and governance in Somalia's Lower Jubba province. Issue 1 (4th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Skjelderup, Michael Weddegjerde
• Is Part Of: Third world thematics. Volume 6:Issue 1/3(2021)
• Page Start: 52
• Page End: 68
• Publication Date: 2021-05-04
• Subjects: Conflict and security -- fragile states -- governance -- horn of Africa -- Islamism -- resistance and activism; Developing countries -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Developing countries -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Globalization -- Periodicals; 338.90091724
• DOI: 10.1080/23802014.2022.2130968
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2379-9978

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper explores the interactions between Islamist insurgents and kinship-based communities in southern Somalia's Lower Jubba province in the period of 2006–2012. It demonstrates how Islamist insurgents were able to manoeuvre in a complex sociopolitical landscape, distinguished by various clan and sub-clan groups, and establish a relatively stable and predictable system of order and governance unprecedented in the Somali Civil War. The insurgents' success, this paper argues, rests on a combination of several related and simultaneous processes which all involved various levels of interactions between the Islamist rulers and local institutions. While the reformist-minded insurgents instilled fear through the application of violence, corporal punishment, and moral policing, they also displayed deep local knowledge, sensitivity, and a pragmatic approach to local institutions, successfully balancing the fine line between divisive 'clan politics' and the risk of alienating local power constellations.