Trade Makes States

Trade Makes States highlights how trade and the circulation of goods are central to Somali societies, economies and politics. Drawing on multi-site research from across East Africa''s Somali-inhabited economic space--which includes areas of Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda and Ethiopia--this volume highlights the interconnection between trade and state-building after state collapse. It scrutinises the ''politics of circulation'' between competing public administrations, which seek to generate revenue and to control infrastructures along major trade corridors.Connecting classic debates on state formation with recent scholarship on logistics and cross-border trading, Trade Makes States argues that the facilitation and capture of commodity flows have been instrumental in making and unmaking states across the Somali territories. Aspiring state-builders are thus confronted with the challenge of governing the flow of goods in order to rule over lands and peoples.The contributors to this volume draw a