Governing endemic crisis : violence and legitimacy in the lives of Somalis.

Abstract

This chapter builds on interviews with Somali migrants in Kenya. It explores how Somali citizens evaluate attempts to establish political authority in Somalia, and what aspects of these attempts they consider as legitimate. Against the context of ‘endemic crisis’ and normalized insecurity, the ability of a political body to provide physical security was given priority by all citizens. The enhancement of security was linked to mobility, and the ruling bodies were evaluated primarily with respect to their ability to facilitate ‘free’ movement of people and goods (spatial mobility), to enable the restoration of trade routes and economic infrastructure (economic mobility), and to allow for the establishment of social and political networks across clan and administrative boundaries (social mobility). The experience of restricted mobility and enforced immobility contributed to the de-legitimization of a governing authority.