“Peacekeeping” as Occupation: Managing the Market for Violent Labor in Somalia

As the “war on terror” expands across the African continent, multilateral institutions assume key roles in the deployment of newly militarized sociopolitical formations to physically and militarily occupy ‘ungoverned’ spaces. Focusing on the African Union Peacekeeping Operation in Somalia (AMISOM), this article explores the everyday legitimating work required to operationalize the demand for reserve armies, offering insights into the relationship between transnational governance, political economy, and the making of security states.