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Governing Through Grievance: Al-Shabaab, Local Political Economy, and the Transnationalisation of Jihad in East Africa

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article develops governing through grievance as an analytical lens for understanding how Al-Shabaab persists because governance failure and local grievance complement ideological mobilisation. Rather than treating the topic as a descriptive case note, the manuscript positions violent extremism, local grievance, and transnational ideology: al-shabaab and the political economy of jihad in east africa within wider debates on African political order, state formation, and institutional design. The paper is anchored in Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, and it uses the topic brief's theoretical architecture to ask three linked questions: to what extent is al-shabaab's recruitment base driven by transnational salafi-jihadist ideology versus local political economic grievances clan marginalisation, state predation, economic exclusion, and the collapse of livelihoods? How has Al-Shabaab's governance repertoire including taxation, dispute resolution, and basic services enabled it to sustain a social base in southern Somalia despite sustained AMISOM/ATMIS military pressure? What explains Al-Shabaab's successful expansion into Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania and does this reflect ideological diffusion, criminal network exploitation, or the replication of local grievance dynamics? Methodologically, the article translates the proposed design into a publication-ready strategy built around comparative subnational analysis of al-shabaab territorial control and governance (acled; mapping militant organizations); interviews with former members, community leaders, and kenyan and somali security officials; analysis of al-shabaab propaganda and governance documentation; comparison with jnim in the sahel.. It argues that the central analytical payoff lies not only in better explanation of
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19552409
Institution: University of Juba
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7154156850
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