Clan - love it or hate it, you need to include it

I enjoy talking about Somali politics and culture, but when people bring up clan and clanism, i tend to recoil. Its like a curse word when discussing Somalia because all I associate clan with is divisive politics.

But recently I met a Somali-Kenyan man with 30 years experience in the development field and he changed my perspective on clan. He made a compelling case based on his experience with numerous communities inside of Somalia for why clan is important, but he also recognized that is can be misused. He described how he witnessed community meetings where clan and sub-clan structures were used to mediate conflict and re-establish peace. Respected clan elders - sometimes called ugaas, aqil, sultan etc - discuss problems and refer to the xeer - a traditional somali legal code - to resolve these problems. These legitimate authorities - the elders and the xeer - have made conflict resolution possible throughout Somali history. Fast forward to today. This exceptionally intelligent man said the reason Somalia's political quagmire is still unresolved is because clan structures and traditional law is not made central to the mediation process. Rather, they play peripheral roles in favor of western-inspired government and legal systems.

His argument struck me as valid, and I think it could prove transformative if enough people hear it. Most people who work on or follow Somali politics (including myself) come from other countries and use very un-Somali political frameworks to analyze the Somali problem. Worst of all, we make recommendations to policy makers based on these non-Somali frameworks. Rather than using what exists - traditional clan laws - we are trying to create new institutions inspired by western structures. This will certainly take a long time, and may not even prove possible in the somali context.

He added that anyone who thinks clan can be ignored is foreign in their outlook, and out of touch with Somalia's reality. I think thats absolutely true, especially because diaspora tend to parachute into somali political discussions without much experience inside the country, but nevertheless feeling more qualified to speak to governance and other issues than people from within somalia. With a PhD in European history, why wouldn't you have everything necessary to find solutions for Somalia?

Ignoring clan though comes from a  good place. It comes from seeing how societies can be harmonious when the population is united on a national level, not a more narrow clan level. It also comes from seeing how clan has been and continues to be used in Somalia for harmful and divisive purposes by some leaders. But this fear of clan is based partly on ignorance of clan systems. Clan can be divisive, but it can also unite communities. It brings order and justice through traditional legal systems. It leads large numbers of people to act as a family - even when they have little blood ties.  The good in clan needs to be harnessed, and the bad controlled for.

So rather than ignore clan in any future thoughts on Somalia, i'll make sure to recognize it as one element necessary to understanding, and ultimately resolving, problems facing Somalia.