Diaspora and State Formation in the Horn of Africa

This network focuses on the processes of state formation in the Horn of Africa and on the role of diasporas in the region. Given the dispersal of large numbers of people from the Horn of Africa, both within the region and further afield, and their potential importance for the political, social, cultural, and economic development in the area, the network will explore the variety of possible linkages between the diasporas 'away from home' and development 'at home'.

Recent decades of violent conflict in the Horn of Africa are characterised by three significant elements: processes of state collapse, state formation, and the dispersal of people throughout the region and abroad. The profound dispersal of Somalis and other peoples originating from the former Republic of Somalia, for instance, have been intimately linked to ongoing conflicts in the Horn of Africa. Today, diasporas abroad are still involved in the complex processes of reconciliation and state formation in the Horn of Africa.

In the past few years, the role of diaspora groups in development processes (i.e. peace and nation building and state formation) has come to the attention of researchers, policy makers and western donors. Instead of seeing migrants and refugees as marginalized and vulnerable groups in need of help, the image of diaspora groups as agents of change in the developing world, is emerging. For example, the flow of economic (money) and social (the transfer of human capital in the form of ideas, experience and skills) remittances to the Horn of Africa is far higher than the flow of international development aid. Therefore, it is the united aim of this network to explore the way in which diasporas engage in their homelands in the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya). The network will not only examine potential positive links, but will also explore how diaspora groups may function as possible agents of conflict and destabilization in the Horn of Africa. In doing so, aspects such as gender, age and socio-economic position, will be investigated.

The members of the proposed research network come from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds, representing a very new group of young researchers, united in a mutual interest in the workings of the links between the diaspora and the homeland areas. This is a new and emerging field of research, which does not have an established ‘home’ in existing research environments in the Nordic countries. The group is unique in that although the various departure points are set so far apart, the lines of inquiry still intersect. Hence, some will focus primarily on the processes of conflict and peace, state building and development in the Horn of Africa region, including the significance of identities among refugees and internally displaced people. Others will focus on the significance of integration, gender, identity and aspirations of the diaspora abroad. A third group will concentrate on how the diaspora and people in the Horn of Africa inter-link, i.e., through the creation of associations for return, money remittance practices, political pressure groups, use of Internet, and how they function upon their return to the region.

The network defines the concept of state formation in a wider sense than the narrow, political science definition of building states. Therefore, it may include processes of identity formation, development of local administrative entities, trans-boundary political entities, regional peace processes, etc. State formation will also be seen from a regional perspective, which is not necessarily confined to the existing structure of so-called 'nation-states', but which investigates the processes that may result in the formation of political authorities or states, even if they are regional, trans-boundary or non-territorial.

Geographically, the network will include the entire Horn of Africa and all people in diasporas originating in the Horn of Africa. It will enable discussions by scholars holding various perspectives. The network will approach crosscutting issues relating to the linkages between migration, development and processes of state-formation and identity. The theme is highly relevant and interlinked in terms of how the complex social, political and developmental processes in the region are reflected. These processes are inextricably linked to the diaspora abroad and to the policy interests of the Nordic countries, given the fact that development can no longer be regarded in isolation from global processes, such as economic globalisation, migration and international terrorism.

Workshops

Members of the network

Contact person: Petri Hautaniemi pehautan@mappi.helsinki.fi