Borders and Borderlands as Resources in the Horn of Africa

State borders are more than barriers. They structure social, economic and political spaces and as such provide opportunities as well as obstacles for the communities straddling both sides of the border. This book deals with the conduits and opportunities of state borders in the Horn of Africa, and investigates how the people living there exploit state borders through various strategies.
Using a micro level perspective, the case studies, which include the Horn and Eastern Africa, particularly the borders of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, focus on opportunities, highlight the agency of the borderlanders, and acknowledge the permeability but consequentiality of the borders.

DEREJE FEYISSA, Max Planck Institute of Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany; MARKUS VIRGIL HOEHNE, Max Planck Institute of Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany.

Reviews

A rich and focused volume [which] opens up a crucial debate that nobody interested in African political and social issues can ignore. JOURNAL OF MODERN AFRICAN STUDIES

This insightful new book looks at borders and borderlands from a quite different perspective. In a series of fascinating case-studies, it provides insights into the experience of people living in the borderlands of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan. [...] For those seeking to engage with the politics of the Horn of Africa, it is essential to grasp the extraordinary complexity of identity and identity choices. This collection of case-studies, creatively combining the insights of social anthropologists, political scientists and historians, makes a real contribution to such an understanding. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Details

First Published: 17 Jun 2010
13 Digit ISBN: 9781847010186
Pages: 224
Size: 21.6 x 13.8
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: James Currey
Series: Eastern Africa Series
Subject: African Studies
BIC Class: GTB

Details updated on 24 May 2013

Contents

• 1  Preface by Gunther Schlee
• 2  Preface by the Editors
• 3  State Borders & Borderlands as Resources: An Analytical Framework
• 4  More State than the State? The Anywaa's Call for the Rigidification of the Ethio-Sudanese Border
• 5  Making Use of the Kin Beyond the International Border: Inter-ethnic Relations along the Ethio-Kenyan Border
• 6  The Tigrinnya-speakers across the Borders: Discourses of Unity & Separation in Ethnohistorical Context
• 7  Trans-Border Political Alliance in the Horn of Africa: The Case of the Afar-Issa Conflict
• 8  People & Politics along and across the Somaliland-Puntland Border
• 9  The Ethiopian-British Somaliland Boundary
• 10  The Opportunistic Economies of the Kenya-Somali Borderland in Historical Perspective
• 11  Magendo & Survivalism: Babukusu-Bagisu Relations & Economic Ingenuity on the Kenya-Uganda Border 1962-80
• 12  Can Boundaries Not Border on One Another? The Zigula (Somali Bantu) between Somalia & Tanzania
• 13  Conclusion: Putting Back the Bigger Picture