Panel 98: Global Somali Diasporas

Somalis constitute a globalised nation. It is estimated that, in the wake of work migration and (civil) war, about one million Somalis was dispersed in the world, from North America, to Europe, the Arab Peninsula and Asia. Around four million Somalis live as citizens or refugees in the neighbouring countries in the Horn of Africa. This panel will have an in-depth look at the conditions of life in and activities of Somali diaspora in various settings all over the globe. It welcomes presentations outlining connections and complexities within diasporas as well as in the transnational field constituted by Somalis ‘at home’, ‘abroad’ and in-between. Our basic assumption is that diasporic life and activities are conditioned by a number of different and partly related factors such as laws, politics and other developments in the country of residence, the country of origin and at the global level. The aim is to understand structures but also fractures within the global Somali diaspora.

Themes for consideration are: development and changes of transnational ties over time; relations between the ‘homeland’ and the ‘near’ (in the Horn) or ‘far’ (in Europe, North America and Asia) diaspora; diasporic engagement in the social, economic and political spheres ‘back home’; diaspora and gender; the relations between diasporic actors and the context of residence; transtanional religion; and diasporic identity formation.