The Rupture of Territoriality and the Diminishing Relevance of Cross-cutting Ties in Somalia after 1990

ABSTRACT The notion of territoriality has changed in the Somali setting. Once it connoted flexibility and was mainly related to economic survival in a harsh environment; today (2016), after more than two decades of civil war, insecurity and foreign intervention, this notion is more rigid and exclusive. Clearly demarcated territory, inhabited by one group or at least under the control of a dominant group, has become a key political resource in an ongoing process of state formation. This article shows that territorialization in Somalia constitutes a complex mixture of bottom‐up and externally driven dynamics. It also shows that new forms of territoriality accompany new forms of sociality in the Somali setting. This is illustrated with regard to the diminishing relevance of cross‐cutting ties among Somali descent groups.