Description
Book Synopsis Exploring the dynamics of identity formation processes in diasporic spaces, this book analyses how gender, cultural and religious practices are renegotiated in a situation of displacement. The author presents the comparative case study of Somali migrant women in Nairobi and Johannesburg: two cosmopolitan urban hubs in the global South. The book is based on and includes ethnographic observations in Nairobi and Johannesburg, first-person accounts of migration journeys across the African continent and women’s reflections on what it means to be a Somali woman today.
Trade Review “This is a fine book that offers fascinating comparative material from two well-chosen locations to discuss the lives and identity of Somali women migrants in Kenya and South Africa. It is theoretically astute and contains much important ethnographic material. I can see it becoming a key reference for the study of Somali diaspora in particular, and diaspora and identity in general.” • Neil Carrier, University of Bristol
Table of Contents List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Cosmopolitan Refugees
Chapter 1. The Port and the Island: Somalis in Nairobi and Johannesburg
Chapter 2. The Dynamics of Identity and Placemaking: the Making of ‘Little
Chapter 3. Global and Local Identifications in Dialogue. Expressions of Somaliness in Nairobi and Johannesburg
Chapter 4. Negotiating Religious and Cultural Identifications in Diasporic Spaces
Chapter 5. Somali Women of Nairobi and Johannesburg: Migration, Agency and Aspirations
Conclusion: Migrating in and out of Africa
References
Index
