Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I argue that peacebuilding initiatives have reconstructed conceptions in post-conflict Somalia. I examine how citizenship is performed through new discourses about rights, obligations, and claim-making driven largely by peace processes yet ultimately embodied and legitimized by ordinary people.

Paper long abstract:

While it is more commonly acknowledged that conflict, particularly civil wars, changes how individuals and groups relate to others and to state agents within a presumed political community, it is less known how peacebuilding initiatives affect citizenship norms and practices in the aftermath of conflict. In this paper, I stress the centrality of the citizen-building aspect of peacebuilding and suggest that peace processes—in particular—reconstruct notions of citizenship alongside attempts to rebuild political institutions. I am particularly interested in how post-conflict 'citizens' then perform citizenship through discourses and practices about rights, obligations, and claim-making. To anchor these broader discussions, I examine Somali national reconciliation conferences between 2000-2004. These processes led to specific outcomes such as federalism and gender and clan-based electoral quotas that arguably changed how individuals defined themselves as citizens in post-transitional, yet still politically volatile spaces. The potential relevance of this case study for discussions on citizenship in post-conflict African societies is great as I aim to conceptually connect contemporary debates on citizenship with growing literature on peacebuilding in Africa.