The volume presents a stimulating overview of the varied positions, such as peacebuilders, investors, and civic members, that members of diasporas hold, as well as extant gaps related to diasporas such as theoretical frameworks and host country institutional incorporation and engagement. This is an enriching book, writes Evan Easton-Calabria

Easton-Calabria, Evan

LSE Research Online

27/02/2015Book Review: Diasporas, Development and Peacemaking inthe Horn of Africa, edited by Liisa Laakso and PetriHautaniemiblogs.lse.ac.uk /lsereviewofbooks/2015/02/27/book-review-diasporas-development-and-peacemaking-in-the-horn-of-africa-edited-by-liisa-laakso-and-petri-hautaniemi/The volume presents a stimulating overview of the varied positions, such as peacebuilders, investors, andcivic members, that members of diasporas hold, as well as extant gaps related to diasporas such as theoreticalframeworks and host country institutional incorporation and engagement. This is an enriching book, writes EvanEaston-Calabria.Diasporas, Development and Peacemaking in the Horn of Africa. Edited by LiisaLaakso and Petri Hautaniemi. Zed Books. 2014.Find this book: The message of Diaspora, Development and Peacemaking in the Horn of Africa ,edited by Liisa Laakso and Petri Hautaniemi, is simple: the role of diasporasis complex. This volume rejects the reductionist and persistent bifurcation of diasporamembers as either agents of conflict or of peacebuilding. Instead it focuses on how, inwhich ways, and with which intended and unintended consequences, members ofdiasporas – seen as more than just exiled populations – engage as important non-governmental actors within both their country of origin and their host country.A primary aim of the book is to present systematic research on the politicaltransnationalism of migrants from countries experiencing conflict, in an effort tocounter the mainly speculative and anecdotal research on the topic. In this regard, the volume succeeds; the ninechapters it comprises present specific and often novel case studies examining various aspects of diasporicengagement. These are presented within the book’s three primary sections: ‘Contextualizing the Horn of Africa andthe diaspora’, ‘Case studies from the Horn of Africa’, and ‘European approaches to diaspora engagement’.Throughout each of the book’s three sections are theories examining different levels and area of diasporicengagement. Diasporas have traditionally been under-theorised, and politics and International Relations (IR)theories in Africa are sparse overall. To contribute to filling this theoretical gap, Chapter 1 utilises the model of multi-level governance (MLG) to analyse how different levels of governance interact, and examines the role of the non-governmental actors (including diasporas) within them. Through employing this model alongside that of looselycoupled systems, Liisa Laakso finds that diasporas’ role in the Horn of Africa contribute to development andpeacebuilding instead of state-building. As such, she argues that diasporas must be further recognised in IR asplaying a pivotal role in civil society.Another interesting theoretical framework is presented in Chapter 7, entitled ‘Interactions between Somaliorganizations and Italian and Finnish development actors’. Petra Mezzetti, Valeria Saggiomo, and Päivi Pirkkalainenconduct a fascinating comparative analysis of the mechanisms and processes through which members of theSomali diaspora and institutional actors in Italy and Finland interact. They examine these interactions through aconceptual framework drawn from the ‘contentious politics’ theory, which accounts for the dynamic elements ofengagement between diaspora actors at the local as well as international level. Through doing so, they highlight theactive role of diaspora groups, the challenges they face in becoming formally recognised as organisations andpolitical actors, and the creative alternatives they often find in order to become ‘certified’ (formally approved) in their1/3host country in order to contribute to the country they come from.One of the volume’s most intriguing case studies is presented in Chapter 3, ‘Rebuilding Somaliland througheconomic and educational engagement’. Authors Markus Virgil Hoehne and Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim focus on thedevelopment of Somaliland, unique in that the country is not recognised as a formal state and has as a resultreceived little international aid. Instead, it has mainly been rebuilt by members of the Somaliland diaspora, therebyevidencing the importance of non-state actors in development and peacebuilding. The authors argue for theidentification of two stages of peacebuilding in Somaliland, the first occurring through ceasefire and peaceagreements, and the second (the chapter’s focus) emerging due to activities instilling physical security as well aseconomic and social stability in the country. This is illustrated through two case studies of hotels that proved to besocial as well as economic investments in the capital city Hargeysa, as well as two case studies of universities thatpromoted education as an alternative activity to fighting. Hoehne and Ibrahim provide pertinent backgroundinformation on peacebuilding in Somaliland as well as analyses of how peacebuilding was achieved througheconomic and social means.Running throughout the chapter is the theme of trust – the authors argue that economic investments infused areaswith a sense of social cohesion and confidence. This was reified by local populations eager to take part in, forinstance, a public competition to name one of the hotels. The majority of the six hundred suggested names connoteddevelopment and peace, demonstrating that the hotel’s significance transcended simple construction and insteaddemonstrated a reconstruction of normalcy and stability in war-torn Hargeysa.Although the volume is focused on the Horn of Africa, and the majority of case studies examine diasporaengagement in the region itself, various other chapters highlight the actions of diaspora groups resettled inEurope.Chapter 9, ‘Norwegian collaboration with diasporas’, by Rojan Ezzati and Cindy Horst, for instance, utilisesthe Norwegian experience to examine how European non-governmental actors interact with diaspora individualsand organisations in aid, development, and peacebuilding activities. By analysing these so-called ‘engagementpolitics’, the authors find that although diaspora members are described as contributors and even partners withinpolicy documents, neither valuable knowledge exchanges between diaspora members and Norwegian institutionsnor their involvement as true stakeholders in development activities manifests in practice. Instead, as one youngdiaspora member shared, it is rare for a Norwegian organisation to be ‘[i]nterested in us not as refugees…[b]ut as aresource…’ (Ch 9, p 215). Ezzati and Horst therefore conclude that the implementation of diasporas as‘stakeholders and resources’ – a transition from ‘on-paper’ to ‘in-practice’ – takes both time and trust (also discussedin Chapter 8).The biggest strength of the volume is also its weakness: due to the localised focus on the Horn of Africa, thechapters become repetitive, as many discuss Somalia and the same host countries in Northern Europe despite thefact that diaspora groups from the Horn exist all over the globe. The introduction provides a succinctcontextualisation of the issue and region, yet this is rendered essentially obsolete by the conceptual and historicalbackground provided in many of the ensuing chapters.This book, therefore, is ideal for those specifically interested in this region, or wishing to obtain detailed case studiesof diaspora engagement at a variety of levels. The volume presents a stimulating overview of the varied positions,such as peacebuilders, investors, and civic members, that members of diasporas hold, as well as extant gapsrelated to diasporas such as theoretical frameworks and host country institutional incorporation and engagement.Overall, this enriching book is aptly summarised through the name of the Somaliland hotel that the diaspora ownerseventually settled on in chapter three: Maansoor – ‘Mind feeder’.Evan Easton-Calabria studied for a Master’s degree in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from the Universityof Oxford. She is a writer and consultant focusing on refugee livelihoods and international development. Read morereviews by Evan.2/3Copyright 2013 LSE Review of Books3/3

Book review: diasporas, development and peacemaking in the Horn of Africa, edited by Liisa Laakso and Petri Hautaniemi

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