ABSTRACT
This chapter pleads for the reinforcement of a political anthropology of transnationalism that may explain the complexity that characterises structures of power within our contemporary societies, reflecting upon the question of state, sovereignty and power in the post-colonial world. Four arguments are advanced here: first, Somali migration is never definitive or temporary, and so practices of return have to be situated into a transnational paradigm of continuous flows across multiple localities. Second, nation-state formation in central Somaliland is constructed and reinforced through transnational flows and practices brought about by returning qurbajoog. Third, the Somali case testifies to the importance of places in the articulation of transnational connections, and so mobility does not dilute territory. Finally, and this is evident in the context of central Somaliland, we are not witnessing a crisis of state sovereignty, as transnational practices undertaken by migrants have to be understood as a part of the government strategy to reach out to its citizens abroad.
