Piracy in Somalia
Violence and Development in the Horn of Africa

Following six years of extensive fieldwork, Weldemichael examines the international causes, internal dynamics, and domestic consequences of piracy in Somalia.

Awet Tewelde Weldemichael (Author)

9781108496964, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 January 2019

256 pages, 17 b/w illus. 2 maps
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.7 cm, 0.55 kg

'This book is a valuable contribution to the study of Somali piracy.' Kris Inman, African Studies Review

Piracy in Somalia sheds light on an often misunderstood world, oversimplified and demonized in the media and largely decontextualized in scholarly and policy works. It examines the root causes of piracy in Somalia, its impact on coastal communities, local views about it, and the measures taken against it. Drawing on six years' worth of extensive fieldwork, Awet Tewelde Weldemichael amplifies the voices of local communities who have suffered under the heavy weight of illegal fishing, piracy and counter-piracy and makes their struggles comprehensible on their own terms. He also exposes complex webs of crimes within crimes of double-dealing pirates, fraudulent negotiators, duplicitous intermediaries, and treacherous foreign illegal fishers and their local partners. In so doing, this book will help inform regional and global counter-piracy endeavors, avoid possible reversals in the gains so far made against piracy, and identify the gains that need to be made against its root causes.

Preface and acknowledgments
Introduction: locating Somali piracy in space and discourse
1. Global root causes and local circumstances of early piracy in Somalia
2. From cascading troubles of Somali fisheries to the onset of predatory piracy
3. The epic spiraling of ransom piracy
4. Local consequences of and responses to piracy
5. International counter-piracy as a means and an end
Conclusion: IUU fishing is back! When will piracy?
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Geopolitics [JPSL], International relations [JPS], Politics & government [JP]