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Title: David D. Laitin papers
Date (inclusive): 1951-2007
Collection Number: 2015C6
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English and Somali
Physical Description:
23 manuscript boxes
(9.6 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The David D. Laitin papers contain speeches, notes, writings, correspondence, dissertations, pamphlets, bulletins, serial
issues, and other printed matter relating to the history, language, political, and social conditions of Somalia in particular
and the Horn of Africa in general.
Creator:
Laitin, David D.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2014.
[Identification of item], David D. Laitin papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
David D. Laitin was born on June 4, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York. He received his B.A. in political science with high honors
from Swarthmore College in 1967, his M.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968, and his
Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974.
Laitin is the James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. Professor Laitin
has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, and the University of California, San Diego.
He has written many articles, books, and conference papers. His specialty is comparative politics, and he has completed fieldwork
in, and is an expert on, the countries of Somalia, Nigeria, Catalonia, Estonia, and France.
Scope and Content of Collection
The David D. Laitin papers include materials collected over decades, from the time Laitin was a Peace Corps volunteer in the
1960s through the 2000s. The materials primarily relate to the history, politics, language, education, and economy of Somalia,
with a few documents on Nigeria. Most are in the form of correspondence, speeches and writings, pamphlets of various political
groups within the Somali political landscape, bulletins, dissertations, and serial issues. Additional material includes Horn
of Africa related topics, such as Ethiopia and Eritrea, and other printed matter. A large portion of the collection was used
as research material for Laitin's books and articles, including
Politics, Language and Thought: The Somali Experience (University of Chicago Press, 1977), and
Somalia: Nation in Search of a State, co-authored with Said Samatar (Westview, 1987).
Donald S. Rothchild papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
I. William Zartman collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Somali Subject collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Leslie Gottesman papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Paul Henze papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Boutros Boutros Ghali papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Ethiopian subject collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Eritrea subject collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Nigeria subject collection, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
George D. Jenkins papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Somalia -- History
Somalia -- Politics and government
Somalia -- Economic conditions
Somalia -- Social conditions