Telling

This chapter elucidates the ways Somalis tell and read clan in daily life. The social practice of telling helps legitimize clan affiliation and social boundaries of Somaliness (e.g., excluding Somali minorities from Somaliness). Telling opens up the potential for individuals to build clan-based social capital and exchange capital in its various forms. Social conventions of telling clan, particularly how these have changed since the early to mid-1990s, are explored as well as differences in clan competence. It is shown that while telling clan through markers such as language and dialect, cultivate affinity within clans, these same features can be used to form links across clans.