Analyzing the Discourse of Customary Conflict Management among Gurgura Clan of Somali People

Abstract

This article was intended to analyze the discourse of customary conflict management among Gurgura clan of Ethiopian Somali. The aims of the study were to explore how social categories are discursively (re)constructed, to find out the way power relations between customary judges and disputants are discursively (re) constructed, and to investigate how the socio- cultural context of Gurgura community influences discourses at the micro level of customary conflict management. The study, which was rooted in qualitative research design, was anchored on Fairclough’s social theory of discourse, and employed Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and social positioning theory (SPT) to analyze both the textual and contextual aspects of the customary conflict management. Analysis of data revealed that participants in their interaction reconstruct social categories differently and reproduce unequal power relations between the elders and disputants. Data analyses also revealed that Participants’ subjective understanding of their social role, norms, cultural beliefs and the rules dictated in their traditional law influenced the forms and functions of their discourse. Based on the analysis and the findings of the study, it was concluded that through the communicative forms and means, discourse participants actively portray one’s own category and others via their ideological positions and representations of meanings. It was also concluded that subjective positions were attributed to elders and disputants through ideological discourses, and the ideological discourses which contravene to the principles of human rights were taken for granted as a matter of common sense. Moreover, it was concluded that socio-cultural context at macro-level influenced the discourses of customary conflict management. The study thus recommends that the academia and civil organization need to work in collaboration to highlight human right issues and enhance justice in Gurgura conflict management practices.