The Colonial Legacy in Somalia is an investigation into the relationship between Rome and Mogadishu, from the period of colonial administration to the recent dramatic events of Operation Restore Hope. It defines the first Italian incursions in the Horn of Africa, the history of the expansionist plans of an imperial late comer, such as Italy, and explores the decade of the Trusteeship Administration from 1950-1960 when Italy tried to introduce a new state system in Mogadishu: It analyzes the events of the 1970s and 1980s when Siad Barre's regime, in spite of his repressive and violent attitude, enjoyed strong support from the former colonial power. The book demonstrates a love-hate relationship between Rome and Mogadishu in the colonial and postcolonial period and examines the consequences of this interaction.

Like many African nations at the end of the 1980s, Somalia faced economic, social and political problems. Many of these countries were still struggling to survive the upheaval in this period, but Somalia could not solve its problems as a healthy nation. Instead the problems led to its disintegration and dismemberment in a bloody civil war roughly four fifths of its population displaced. These displaced people have lost their past and their future and that of their children. Subsequently, the country has been divided into fiefdoms ruled by separate armed clans. The political and economic systems collapsed. The human agony is beyond imagination. What caused this agony and the collapse of civil society? What were the forces which shaped it? Was it part of an inevitable evolutionary process? To what extent did the colonial partition contribute to the calamity? By examining the Somali politico-historical perspective, this book explores the impact of the colonial legacy on the political, social and economic life of the Somali nation, and posits that it is one of the main factors which led to the collapse of the modern Somali state in the early 1990s. It will also briefly consider some immediate post-collapse outcomes. Abdisalam M. Issa-Salwe (PhD) is Somali scholar, researcher, lecturer, and author as well as celebrated veteran of Somali Studies. He is written, edited, many scholarly articles and books. Some of his published works include: 'The Collapse of the Somali State: The Impact of the Colonial Legacy (1996); 'Cold War Fallout: Boundary Politics and Conflict in The Horn of Africa (2000); 'Oral Culture and Computer Mediated Communication: Social Dynamics of Mailing Lists (2010). He is currently Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Head of the Deanship of Curriculum Development. Dr Abdisalam is also Professor.

“Utterly sublime . . . Aduatells a gripping story of war, migration and family, exposing us to the pain and hope that reside in each encounter” (Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King). Adua, an immigrant from Somalia, has lived in Italy nearly forty years. She came seeking freedom from a strict father and an oppressive regime, but her dreams of becoming a film star ended in shame. A searing novel about a young immigrant woman’s dream of finding freedom in Rome and the bittersweet legacies of her African past. “Lovely prose and memorable characters make this novel a thought-provoking and moving consideration of the wreckage of European oppression.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Igiaba Scego is an original voice who connects Italy’s present with its colonial past. Adua is an important novel that obliges the country to confront both memory and truth.” —Amara Lakhous, author of Dispute over a Very Italian Piglet “This book depicts the soul and the body of a daughter and a father, illuminating words that are used every day and swiftly emptied of meaning: migrants, diaspora, refugees, separation, hope, humiliation, death.” —Panorama “A memorable, affecting tale . . . Brings the decolonialization of Africa to life . . . All the more affecting for being told without sentimentality or self-pity.” —ForeWord Reviews “Deeply and thoroughly researched . . . Also a captivating read: the novel is sweeping in its geographical and temporal scope, yet Scego nonetheless renders her complex protagonists richly and lovingly.” —Africa Is a Country

In 1991, certain political and military leaders in Somalia, wishing to gain exclusive control over the state, mobilized their followers to use terror—wounding, raping, and killing—to expel a vast number of Somalis from the capital city of Mogadishu and south-central and southern Somalia. Manipulating clan sentiment, they succeeded in turning ordinary civilians against neighbors, friends, and coworkers. Although this episode of organized communal violence is common knowledge among Somalis, its real nature has not been publicly acknowledged and has been ignored, concealed, or misrepresented in scholarly works and political memoirs—until now. Marshaling a vast amount of source material, including Somali poetry and survivor accounts, Clan Cleansing in Somalia analyzes this campaign of clan cleansing against the historical background of a violent and divisive military dictatorship, in the contemporary context of regime collapse, and in relationship to the rampant militia warfare that followed in its wake. Clan Cleansing in Somalia also reflects on the relationship between history, truth, and postconflict reconstruction in Somalia. Documenting the organization and intent behind the campaign of clan cleansing, Lidwien Kapteijns traces the emergence of the hate narratives and code words that came to serve as rationales and triggers for the violence. However, it was not clans that killed, she insists, but people who killed in the name of clan. Kapteijns argues that the mutual forgiveness for which politicians often so lightly call is not a feasible proposition as long as the violent acts for which Somalis should forgive each other remain suppressed and undiscussed. Clan Cleansing in Somalia establishes that public acknowledgment of the ruinous turn to communal violence is indispensable to social and moral repair, and can provide a gateway for the critical memory work required from Somalis on all sides of this multifaceted conflict.

Shari'a, Inshallah shows how people have used shari'a to struggle for peace, justice, and human rights in Somalia and Somaliland.

With a new Introduction by Said S. Samatar and an Afterword by the author

This multidisciplinary volume analyses key cultural themes in colonial, postcolonial and transnational encounters between Italy and its former colonies in the Horn of Africa, with essays by experts in comparative literature, cultural studies, history, migration studies, political philosophy and postcolonial theory.