Dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by research in Political Science Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences University of the Witwatersrand March 2019 / Somalia has been described as a “state without a state” or a “nation in search of state” since the end of colonial rule and the subsequent total collapse of the postcolonial state in 1991 (Samatar and Laitin, 1989, Newman, 2009, Menkhaus, 2003). Scholars have been attempting to locate the source of the conflict and ways of reconstructing the Somali state, describing the Horn of Africa nation not only as an archetype of a failed state, but also a threat to regional and global security. Since the arrival of European invaders, Somalia’s inhabitants have routinely been referred to as the most “difficult race to pacify” (Beech, 1996:5). The repetition of these colonial tropes which are consistently reported in the contemporary literature on Somalia is not surprising because of two consistent elements in the Somali conflict which ought to be probably understood. First, the population’s strong attachment to Islam has resulted in the country’s historical transformation into indigenous political Islam, a phenomenon that is “downplayed and understudied,” in the historiographic accounts of Somalia (Abdullahi, 2011:16). In this vein, I argue that the forced secularisation of Somalia, from the colonial era to the current attempts to create a secular state, has been at loggerheads with popular indigenous Islam in this Horn of Africa nation. This popular Islam attracts the presence of a global force that has been attempting to steer Somalia away from its indigenous identity to a more secular notion of the state. Arising from these hypotheses, the dissertation aims to establish the continuities between Somalia’s current political instability, its past and political loyalty, by exploring Islam as both an ethnicised identity and defence mechanism. While investigating the role of Islam in shaping the social and political Somali identity, I historicise Ahmad Gurey’s war with Abyssinia and the Portuguese empire in 1500s, and Sayid Maxamad’s confrontations with colonial powers: Britain, France, Italy and Abyssinia in 1900. Finally, I explore the tension between the formation of the secular postcolonial state and indigenous Islam. The research attempts to trace the present turmoil and investigate the role of popular Islam in “inviting” foreign powers to the Somali peninsula, thus arresting the process of domestic state reconstruction / M T 2019

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Somali women have suffered at the hands of the patriarchy for as long as they have known. It is well established that the civil war in 1991 created irreparable damage to the Somali people. Nevertheless, it opened doors for women to experience autonomy for the first time. The impact it has had on the men has been contrasting, causing them to separate from their manhood. This thesis aimed to determine how migration has solved the empowerment-disempowerment dichotomy Somali women have faced for centuries. To do this, we will explore the dynamics of maternal politics, using a concept referred to as political motherhood. We then utilised political motherhood and conducted a qualitative analysis using four semi-structured interviews with a prominent group known as the “Mothers of Rinkeby” internationally. These women have been working to prevent crime in Rinkeby. Our results show a considerable correspondence between fleeing Somalia and how women of the Somali diaspora long to dismantle the patriarchal values deeply ingrained in their culture. Meanwhile, the husbands and fathers are absent. We conclude that Somali diaspora women are not only empowered now, but they are working to change the flawed patriarchal system upheld in Somali culture.

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Thesis (Ph.D. ( Migration and Displacement))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2016. / This thesis explores how the Somali diaspora constitutes itself as a collectivity by analysing identity formation processes in an interconnected postmodern world, where migration has become much common than before, where identities are not as certain as they used to be and where a trans- local sense of being connected surpasses fix national borders. I propose the concept of the cosmopolitan refugee in order to explore how Somaliness is constructed in diasporic contexts, based on the interweaving of cosmopolitan, vernacular and national identifications. Moreover, Somaliness cannot be understood today without the influence of Islam, the cosmopolitan and political implications of belonging to the umma and the importance of being seen as a “good Muslim”. Using ethnographic and narrative data, this research takes a gendered approach and moves beyond the prevailing representations of Somali women in the global imagination by presenting alternative discourses and narratives that explore the dynamics of identity constructions these women undergo in relation to cultural, religious and gender practices in the two urban contexts of Nairobi and Johannesburg. These are two interconnected cities for the Somali diaspora that metaphorical operate as a port and as island. Both places are transitional places for Somalis and in both cities the creation of the “little Mogadishus” of Eastleigh, in Nairobi, and Mayfair, in Johannesburg, generates a particular trans-local situation in which collective identity, through the repetition of cultural and religious practices, is able to transform the urban space, at the same time that the implementation of these practices makes these places to be connected between them, to the lost homeland in Somalia and to any other place in the world Somalis inhabit these days. However, due to the bigger Somali population and the historical and geographical links with Somalia, Somalis in Nairobi develop greater feelings of belonging than in Johannesburg, where isolation seems to be the more widespread feeling. Somalis in Nairobi are more exposed to cosmopolitanism due to the relationship they have with the city, the fact that Eastleigh is a point of constant transit and an important commercial hub across the Somali diaspora all around the world, and the presence of Somalis belonging to different backgrounds. In Johannesburg, the Somali population is much smaller and the isolated situation most Somalis find make them use Somaliness as a way of resilience and demarcating difference, resulting in certain vernacular and religious practices being strengthened. In this sense, Nairobi is experienced by Somalis as more cosmopolitan than Johannesburg. Nevertheless in both contexts Somaliness is constructed around a sense of unity based on: a common place of origin and mythical past, a common language, religion and “culture”, implemented in the everyday life by the habitus of cultural and religious practices. This habitus together with a narrative of the nation being constructed in the virtual spaces of Facebook and Instagram creates a strong sense of belonging to an “imagined community”. Somaliness resides not within the boundaries of a nation-state but in a trans-local sense of being connected. / MT2017

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This thesis explores diaspora experiences among Somali-Swedish parents and their daughters where the girls are enrolled in a Muslim-profiled school. The thesis uses migration theory with a transnational perspective, with findings that depart from the traditional view of migrants’ rootedness in a single country. It adopts the new paradigm for the sociology of childhood, where childhood is regarded as a social construction and children are considered to possess agency and competence. Anthony Giddens’s structuration theory and its main concept ‘duality of structure’ was employed as a theoretical tool. Methods that were used were participant observation, interviews (individual and in group) and analysis of essays. The thesis consists of three studies. The first study explores how Somali-Swedish parents explain their choice of a Muslim-profiled school for their children. The results refute the traditional view that such choices are solely faith-based, showing faith as important but not determining. Important factors were finding a school that met their high educational ambitions and  made both parents and children feel trusted, safe and not disrespected because of their faith and skin-colour. The second study explores transnational experiences, particularly the transfer of transnational practices from the Somali-Swedish parents’ to their children and the construction of a transnational social space, built on close global relationships. The results show that transnational practices are feasible irrespective of physical travel. The study also exemplifies the group’s readiness to relocate between countries by the onward migration from Sweden to Egypt, and implications for the children are illuminated. Somalis in diaspora often explain their propensity to move by their past nomadic life-patterns, but this study shows as strong factors the desire for better opportunities in combination with experiences of cultural and economic marginalisation in the West. The third study analyses how girls in grade 5 (about eleven years old) imagine their future career and family life by analysing essays. The findings reveal that their dreams are both consistent with the expectations of their families (in particular, high educational ambitions) and inspired from elsewhere (particularly in terms of future family life). How the girls imagine their adulthood could be seen as an example of how their original culture is subject to change in a new environment. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript.</p><p> </p>

The study aimed to explore and describe the forced migration experiences of Somali refugees living in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and the impact of refugee-specific trauma on this population. A mixed method triangulation research design with a quantitative weighting was employed and purposive snowball, non-probability sampling was used to construct a sample of 30 adult Somali refugees from Port Elizabeth’s Korsten community. Participants were included in the study if they fulfilled the pre-defined inclusion criteria of having successfully applied for refugee status, having resided in South Africa for at least six months and being 18 years or older. A semi-structured interview questionnaire was developed by the researcher to operationalise the constructs being measured. The questionnaire comprised a biographical and antecedent event(s) questionnaires as well as sections of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire Revised Version. Data was then analysed via exploratory descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients. The research found that the majority of Somali refugees cited conflict, insecurity and instability as the mainn reasons for leaving their country of origin, suggesting the basic need for safety and security was unmet. One third of the sample reported that the main reason for leaving was the same as their most traumatic life event. The average participant had experienced 16 traumatic events and experienced 23 trauma symptoms on average, demonstrating high levels of trauma among the study population. The study recommends that the link between the main reason for forced migration and refugee trauma be explored.

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Since 2012 more than 295 676 migrants have arrived in South Africa. Somalis form one of the most visible migrant minorities in the country. Since various studies have been conducted into the mistreatment of migrants and its psychological effects, this study aimed to investigate the reasons that led to the resilience of the Somali community residing in Fordsburg/Mayfair, Johannesburg despite the challenges they encountered. The sample for the study was selected using the purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through the use of face-to-face semi-structured interviews and subsequently analysed following Colaizzi’s (1978) descriptive phenomenological method of data analysis. The findings of the study show that the participants experienced several challenges en route to South Africa and once they reached the country. Their resilience can be attributed to reasons such as individual determination to achieve change, the Somali communal culture, religion and spirituality, the family spirit, gender role adaptation and hard work. / Psychology / M.A. (Research Consultation)