Smugglers, Speculators, and the City in the Ethiopia-Somalia Borderlands

'In this compelling account, Daniel K. Thompson shows how Somalis in the Ethiopia-Somaliland borderlands and beyond, from Minneapolis to Guangzhou, catch hold of even as they are ensnared by border surveillance regimes that remake cities, clans, commerce, and transnational connections. Spotlighting the relationships of reciprocity that complicate the quest for material gain, Thompson deftly guides the reader through the crossroads of solidarity and schism in urban and diasporic identities that are connected as much as divided by territorial borders.' Bill Maurer, University of California, Irvine 'Daniel K. Thompson takes us into the highly securitised streets of the Horn of Africa where few urban scholars travel – literally or intellectually. This brave account brings to life the complexity of everyday urban negotiations that derive from multi-scalar power dynamics, determining who gains what in conflict-riddled settlements.' Susan Parnell, Universities of Cape Town and Bristol 'In this analytically elaborate and empirically rich monograph, Daniel K. Thompson connects the urban fabric of Ethiopia's Somali Region with territorial borders and sites of diaspora life abroad. The book beautifully weaves together the cultural economy of borderland economies, planetary urbanization, and political identity, and, in this sense, it offers a key reading for geographers, anthropologists, and historians interested in the reconstitution of the political from the global margins.' Timothy Raeymaekers, Università di Bologna