This paper will address the ways in which cultural, economic and political appellations of shifta (bandits or rebels) were used to force social change amongst Somali Kenyans in Kenya's Northern Frontier District (NFD) during the 1963-1968 'Shifta War'. Presenting a work-in-progress the paper reveals how the notion of shifta veiled various forms of violence in the NFD. Consequently, and in common with other investigations of banditry I argue that the Kenyan government 'discovered' a powerful political weapon in shifta that provided a pretext for forcing social and political change. In order to meet the challenges of independence, the shifta 'threat' enabled comprehensive government action against a group of people who were seen to defy the territorial and political constitution of the nation state. This resulted in the misrepresentation of violence in the region and the criminalisation of a community. When looking at state initiatives to contain the 'Shifta War', it is clear that counter-insurgency measures were directed not only at the secessionist fighters but also at the Somali pastoral community more broadly. Forced villagisation, movement restrictions and livestock confiscations criminalised a whole community, and shifta was the justification. In its broader significance this paper challenges the legitimacy of the post-colonial state as an agent of change amongst a group of people who have traditionally existed without regard to state authority.

This paper examines the history of the reconstruction of Yokohama city after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan and finds a basis of comparison with the reconstruction of Kobe city after the 1995 Great Awaji-Hanshin Earthquake. It suggests that a prominent feature of both reconstructions was a focus on the building of major national infrastructure projects, and that the enlistment of municipal residents and resources in national infrastructure building is an example of political elites 'cashing in on chaos' to strengthen their own position through disaster reconstruction. By examining the nature of the two earthquake reconstructions, which are separated by more than 70 years, it is evident that some degree of continuity exists in the Japanese nation building project.

The Kentucky Frontier War is arguably one of the most brutal and violent episodes in America's colonial history. During the American Revolution deaths linked to wartime combat in this region were over seven times higher than in any of the thirteen rebelling colonies. Bolstered by their British allies the Shawnee, Cherokee, Wyandots, Pickaways, and numerous other Native American tribes, launched a war of attrition upon the Kentucky Frontier that would outlast the Revolution by thirteen years. For those living on this frontier, warfare with Native Americans was a distinct everyday, reality and strikes into the heartlands of both settlers and their Native American adversaries was commonplace. From 1775 to 1783 Kentucky was transformed from an uninhabited hunting ground into a major destination for settlers migrating westward. During these early years settlements were constructed as forts and the settlers themselves were cast, out of necessity, into the role of soldiers responsible not only for their own safety but that of their families, kin networks, towns, and ultimately, the settlement of this new region. In this paper the development of society on the Kentucky Frontier will be considered in the context of the hyper-violence caused by larger political movements affecting colonial America. This enables the assessment of the extent to which violence informed the shape of the Kentuckian frontier society.