11348 Young Research Library
Presentation Room
Los Angeles, CA 90095
This lecture will focus on the methods of historicizing the concept of a political space within the context of Islam in Somalia. The focus will be on the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia between 1994-2006 in contesting a political space using the archived memory of Islamic city-state formation in the region (15th-18th century) within the institutional frameworks of political formations as exemplified by the western liberal model of the state (a legacy of the colonial period). How did the ICU occupy this political space and in turn re-imagine it? How can we re-conceptualize political formations as defined as internal to religion and not by its separation from it? In an attempt to identify shifts in periods by understanding changes in concepts of political organization, this paper will take a longue durée approach to comprehend the formation of social relations and the functions of politics.
About Natasha Issa Shivji:
Natasha Issa Shivji is a PhD candidate at New York University in African History. She is from Tanzania where she is a lecturer at the University of Dodoma in the History department. Her work currently focuses on historicizing state formation and the political economic history of Islam on the East African coast.
Monday Africa Seminar Series:
This presentation is part of the UCLA African Studies Center Monday Africa Seminar Series (MASS) and is organized by Professor Ghislaine Lydon, UCLA Department of History.
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