The Invention of Somalia

[Safferz]

I did not forget Haatu

 

Fig.1 - cute Somali kids

 

I wanted to start a thread where we can discuss and perhaps complicate the idea of Somalis as a homogenous unit, imagined to be egalitarian, nomadic pastoralists with a shared religious, cultural, ethnic/racial, and linguistic background that together create a coherent conception of who and what a Somali is. This idea of a unified Soomaalinimo/Somaliness is something that underpinned the anticolonial nationalist movements across the Somali territories (1943-1960), the first postcolonial civilian government of the Somali Youth League (1960-1969), and the state ideology of the Siyaad Barre regime (1969-1991), and as we all know it was among the many casualties of the civil war, and the concept of Soomaalinimo - and the possibility of a 'naturally' corresponding/overlapping Somali nation-state - is more contentious and fractured today than ever.

 

So to start off -- could it be that we've always had it wrong? Has this narrative ever been fully accepted by Somalis themselves, or has it been contested from its beginnings despite it being pushed by and legitimized by the state? Have there always been differences, inequalities, and social fault lines suppressed by and subsumed within the unifying ideology of Soomaalinimo? Some of the fault lines that come to mind include ethnicity (ie. the Gosha peoples, or Somali Bantu), caste ("lower" clans), class (peasantry, urbanites, etc), language (Somali, or the Somali languages? I read somewhere there are 40 Somali languages and dialects), gender, land/resource competition (arguably what factional and regional rivalries from the 80s to present are all about, with clan becoming a language for what are fundamentally economic concerns), modes of production (pastoralism, agriculture, merchants, etc), and so on.

 

Fig.2 - Somalia at independence, bal where are the women?

 

To put it simply, can it be said that the Somali crisis is one of contested narratives, identities, and experiences? Answer the poll (in the style of BBC's Doha debates ) and share your thoughts.

[Tallaabo]

This is a very good topic Saffarz. The idea of Somalis being one homogenous group speaking one language and adhering to one religion has always been nothing more than a blatant propaganda by the various Somali governments. "Somalis" like the rest of human societies are composed of different ethnicities, clans, and nations with various religions(or non), and languages and dialects. Nothing is homogeneous in this world. "Variety is the spice of life", says a proverb.

[Alpha Blondy]

what a load of pseudo-academic spiel.

[magicbird]

Somalis are basically made up of different people that merged to form an identity. The northern identity from Saylac to Ras Casayr moved south right after the acceptance of Islam, and they settled in Marka and Xamar, others went as far west as Qalafo. At this moment they've developed a clan culture. The southern identity between the rivers accepted Islam about the same time, but a diluted clan culture reached them, so they're incorporated a lot of groups. By the 11th century Somali identity is fully created, groups were still being incorporated but Somalis were one, the 'dark berber'. In the peninsula at this time the non-muslims left were called gaalo so they were enslaved like the oromo. So Somalis don't share anything except Islam.

[Miyir]

Saf

 

is this questions addressed to Landers? Lander's suffer self inflicted identity crisis, that the rest of Somali national don't suffer as bad.

 

Yes diversity and injustices exist in Somalia, it doesn't make us less or more Somali national if you belong to minority or majority.

[Nin-Yaaban]

Umm, there are no 40 different languages spoken in Somalia. Dialects yes, but no 40 languages. Each region/gobol/city still speaks Somali, but with their own variation. Even Af.Maay is at least 50% Somali, and i can still understand half of whats being said (well at least to me anyway ).

 

Now, as far as Unity/Somalino goes, that is a separate thing and has different meaning to different people. This is a little more sensitive issue to get into or talk about, because it involves Siyaasad/Qabiil, which we all know is a very emotionally charged topic.

[Naxar Nugaaleed]

I seldom speak in absolutes but I believe this "narrative" to not only be true but that overwhelming majority of Somalis believe this in their hearts of hearts despite recent clannish brain washing. The Somali nation as absorbed minorities but so have other nations. Are we egalitarian, not as much as we like to think but its possible.

[Hawdian]

Alpha Blondy;989040 wrote:

what a load of pseudo-academic spiel.

+1

[Safferz]

Miyir;989046 wrote:

Saf

 

is this questions addressed to Landers? Lander's suffer self inflicted identity crisis, that the rest of Somali national don't suffer as bad.

Not at all, I gave quite a few examples of some of the issues I'm talking about. Somaliland as a coherent entity is as much an 'invention' as any other polity, and for the most part it is the North that is archetypical of and privileged by the myth of Somaliness.

 

Nin-Yaaban;989053 wrote:

Umm, there are no 40 different languages spoken in Somalia. Dialects yes, but no 40 languages. Each region/gobol/city still speaks Somali, but with their own variation. Even Af.Maay is at least 50% Somali, and i can still understand half of whats being said

Yes this is what I said -- 40 languages *and* identifiable dialects.

[Khadafi]

Saferz you wrote a interesting essay., I see that nation state has no "muqadissnimo" for you as you chop it down in your marxist analysis, a good thing though is that your not ruled by "dogmas". I have to commend for that. As for the thread I do believe that "somali-ness" is a religious-ethnic identity. Why on earth should we abandon or dismantle one of the most precious things that our parents gave us--- mainly IDENTITY. Even the Xaaji Xunjuf, the afro-hashemite does not deny somali-ness.

 

 

As for politics, that's another topic, Somalia as a nation state was not invented, remember that Somalis existed before the arrival of the whites. History did not begin when the whites came or when the whites gave us our hard fought freedom, therefore per logic "Somalia" was not invented. The same could be said about Britain, the days when queens and kings ruled in Britain can not be compared to these days when men/women from working class are shaping the countries future. Does this mean that Britain became invented? We needs to read Edward Said We have yet freed ourselves from the chains of orientalism.

 

Anyways that's what I could muster to refute! Ogowna waad iga xanaaqsiisid. Soomaliya xaaladeeda waad u jeeda, soomalinimadana hadaa CHOP CHOP la gareeya maxaa soo haray lol!

 

 

But I do agree with you on one thing, Somalia is a nation mixed in it's different life-styles, Orientalists as I. Lewis have contributed to the false idea of Somalis only compromising of pastoral nomads. Their is unique mixture of a sedimentary-pastoral life style in southern Somalia. The cultural exchange and influence between these very different lifestyles has given Somalis a unique culture. Maybe we need further information how these inter-cultural influence is making itself present today`? The Only Somali intellectual that has smashed this false history must be the savannah based Professor Mukhtar Omar Mukhtar. His influence is being felt today and I belive many more will understand him in the future.

[SomaliPhilosopher]

The invention of Somalia or the invention of Mogadishu ?

[thefuturenow]

Apophis;989051 wrote:

A typical phrase used by "academics" in the liberal arts because they truly believe the more complicated they make things, the more intelligent they are.

 

Some people swallow this BS hook, line and sinker.

 

Books must be sold.

 

Soomalinimo is a constructed identity. Necessary for a strong state. Haddii kale habar kaste qori ha qaatoo dhulna ha xariiqato because she likes her tea with milk unlike that other habar.

[Haatu]

Safferz;989030 wrote:

I did not forget Haatu

 

Fig.1 - cute Somali kids

 

I wanted to start a thread where we can discuss and perhaps complicate the idea of Somalis as a homogenous unit, imagined to be egalitarian, nomadic pastoralists with a shared religious, cultural, ethnic/racial, and linguistic background that together create a coherent conception of who and what a Somali is. This idea of a unified Soomaalinimo/Somaliness is something that underpinned the anticolonial nationalist movements across the Somali territories (1943-1960), the first postcolonial civilian government of the Somali Youth League (1960-1969), and the state ideology of the Siyaad Barre regime (1969-1991), and as we all know it was among the many casualties of the civil war, and the concept of Soomaalinimo - and the possibility of a 'naturally' corresponding/overlapping Somali nation-state - is more contentious and fractured today than ever.

 

So to start off -- could it be that we've always had it wrong? Has this narrative ever been fully accepted by Somalis themselves, or has it been contested from its beginnings despite it being pushed by and legitimized by the state? Have there always been differences, inequalities, and social fault lines suppressed by and subsumed within the unifying ideology of Soomaalinimo? Some of the fault lines that come to mind include ethnicity (ie. the Gosha peoples, or Somali Bantu), caste ("lower" clans), class (peasantry, urbanites, etc), language (Somali, or the Somali languages? I read somewhere there are 40 Somali languages and dialects), gender, land/resource competition (arguably what factional and regional rivalries from the 80s to present are all about, with clan becoming a language for what are fundamentally economic concerns), modes of production (pastoralism, agriculture, merchants, etc), and so on.

 

Fig.2 - Somalia at independence, bal where are the women?

 

To put it simply, can it be said that the Somali crisis is one of contested narratives, identities, and experiences?

Answer the poll (in the style of BBC's Doha debates

) and share your thoughts.

I have been waiting with eager anticipation

 

First of all, I agree with you on some things and I disagree with you on others. I agree that the political entity called Somalia with its currently internationally recognised borders is an invention of the 1960s. It is arbitrary and unnatural.

 

But let me go on a tangent here. First let me answer the question "What is the Somali nation and what is it based on?". Firstly, a Somali is a member of a homogeneous ethnic group native to East Africa. Genetic evidence has confirmed this and I don't need to go into detail. (Note that I don't include the "Somali Bantu" in this. To me they are Somali nationals, but they are not Somalis ethnically and historically, they are a different people which God has decided for them to live among us today). This Somali is a member of a group by default handed down to him by his/her father. A collection of people who ascribe to this same group (whether or not they share a common ancestor) are the clan. The clan controls the territory the majority of its members live upon (some may live elsewhere). The clan has both political dominion and economic monopoly on this land. The collection of these clans make up the Somali nation and the collection of the clan territories make up the Somali homeland. To simplify, in my opinion a Somali is an individual who belongs to the Somali ethnic group and is part of the clan structure. To sum up, ethnically speaking the Somali are a homogeneous entity.

 

Moving on to the cultural and linguistic aspect. You claim Somalis have different cultures. I like to look at it as variations within ONE culture. For example, the pastoralist Somalis may have some practices unique to them which they do not share with the nomad, but the similarities are such that the nomad will not view it as completely alien. These variations as I term them arose due to as you mentioned different economic activities, farmers and pastoralists. However all this means is that some section of the group adapted to their climate in one way to survive and the other group in another way. Also, you said there around 40 dialects (and what you hastily termed languages) spoken in the Somali homeland. From the little I know, the vast majority of these dialects are mutually intelligible and all have a common ancestor of which the Maay Maay is the purest survivor of. This natural variation in language cannot be extrapolated to mean the Somalis lack homogeneity, but rather all it suggests at is the natural evolution of language which is something not unique to the Somali language.

 

Finally, if I turn my attention to why the Somali Republic collapsed, I disagree with you that the reason was our supposed "differences" but rather a wrong basis for the nation we inherited from the colonisers (it was afterall an entity they carved out). If we look back into history, we will notice that for the majority of Somali history the clan states have been by and large politically independent of each other to some degrees (fiefdoms if you like). These fiefdoms were led by traditionally elected leaders we knew as Garaads, Boqors, Suldaans, Iimaams etc who exercised political sovereignty. Most Somalis were and still are loyal firstly to themselves and secondly to these clan fiefdoms. For most, loyalty to the Somali Republic of 1960 comes in third or fourth place. When the colonisers came, these fiefdoms were rendered obsolete and their political independence dismantled. In its place a European appointed governor came to rule. When independence was achieved, the "founding fathers" followed in the footsteps of the Europeans and sought to create a European style nation-state. What they neglected was the traditional role of the clan fiefdoms and the loyalty its citizenry had for them. The consequence of this was all the political power that was traditionally decentralized across the whole Somali homeland was centralized in one entity known as the Government seated in Muqdisho. In a poor country where little to no economic prospects exist, the Government became the sole conduit for economic development and hence survival for the clans. To become rich and overpower traditional rivals, the clan had to dominate the Government by all means necessary. Fast forward 30 years from 1 July 1960 and the invented Somali Republic collapsed. It did not collapse because its citizens had unbridgeable differences or were mutually exclusive to one another, but rather because an alien form of government was given to a people ill-suited to adapt to its requirements which led to its inevitable collapse. What we see today in Somaliland, Puntland, Jubbaland, Galmudug etc. is the Somalis slowly returning to their "natural" way of governance and any methods initiated by the IC to subterfuge this process will result in inevitable disaster. It is upon those very clan fiefdoms the Somali Republic should have been based upon with power and wealth equally decentralized among them. It is my belief had that been done, not only would have the Somali Republic still be in place today, Jabuuti and S/Galbeed would have joined it also (and maybe NFD).

 

Haddal badan haan ma buuxhsee baa la yiriye haddaan soo koobo, although natural variations and differences exist among them, Soomaali waa mid, waa ul iyo meyrax, mataano weeyoo, meel bey ka wada dhasheen.

 

Wa billaahi towfiiq

[Safferz]

Will return to systematically destroy your argument once I'm done with my work this evening Haatu, laakin why is everyone reading my statement of "40 languages and dialects" as 40 languages? That could mean 2 languages and 38 related dialects, or 5 languages and 35 dialects, or perhaps even 11 languages and 29 dialects. I didn't use an Oxford comma, jaalleyaal :mad:

[OdaySomali]

http://www.africaworldpressbooks.com/servlet/Detail?no=742