DIIS WORKING PAPER 2017: 7 THE EXPERIENTIAL LIMITS OF THE STATE: TERRITORY AND TAXATION IN GAROOWE, PUNTLAND Kirstine Strøh Varming Kirstine Strøh Varming PhD fellow, Roskilde University
[email protected] Acknowledgements I would like to thank Hannah Elliott, Finn Stepputat and Tobias Hagmann for valuable comments on early drafts of this paper, and Professor Mohamed Samantar of Puntland State University for insights and input during fieldwork in Garoowe. GOVSEA PAPER SERIES Editors: Tobias Hagmann & Finn Stepputat The GOVSEA PAPER SERIES publishes ongoing research on the governance of economic hubs and flows in Somali East Africa. It is part of a collaborative research and capacity building programme funded by the Danish Consultative Research Committee for Development Research (FFU) and coordinated by Roskilde University. See more about GOVSEA at govsea.tumblr.com. DIIS Working Papers are work in progress by DIIS researchers and partners. They may include documentation which is not necessarily published elsewhere. DIIS Working Papers are published under the responsibility of the author(s) alone.author. DIIS WORKING PAPER 2017: 7 DIIS · Danish Institute for International Studies Østbanegade 117, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark Tel: +45 32 69 87 87 E-mail:
[email protected] www.diis.dk ISBN 978-87-7605-893-7 DIIS publications can be downloaded free of charge from www.diis.dk © Copenhagen 2017, the author and DIIS TABLE OF CONTENTS THE EXPERIENTIAL LIMITS OF THE STATE: TERRITORY AND TAXATION IN GAROOWE, PUNTLAND ABSTRACT 2 Introduction 3 Taxation as a claim to authority 5 Puntland: territoriality, identity and taxation 8 Garoowe fuel trade: taxation and regulation 15 The parking tax and safety zone: suspicion and rejection 18 Conclusion: challenging and constituting state authority 23 References 26 Endnotes 31 DIIS WORKING PAPER 2017: 7 1 ABSTRACT In this paper, I explore claims to ‘statehood’ in the Somali federal member state of Puntland.