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Agency of Somali Migrant Women in Nairobi and Johannesburg: Negotiating Religious and Cultural Identifications in Diasporic Spaces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2020

Nereida Ripero-Muñiz Open the ORCID record for Nereida Ripero-Muñiz [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract:

An ethnographic analysis of two interconnected cities for the Somali diaspora—Nairobi and Johannesburg—helps to uncover alternative narratives about the lives of Somali women and the ways they renegotiate their cultural and religious identities in diasporic contexts, moving beyond the widespread representation of Somali women in the global imagination as helpless victims. Using the domains of marriage and female circumcision, Ripero-Muñiz analyzes how these women exercise their agency while at the same time negotiating the cultural and religious practices of their community. By focusing on the ways in which Somali women re-negotiate their identities, this article helps to locate the agency of women in refugee and migrant communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Résumé:

une analyse ethnographique de deux villes interconnectées pour la diaspora malienne, Nairobi et Johannesburg, permet de découvrir d’autres récits sur la vie des femmes maliennes et la façon dont elles renégocient leurs identités culturelles et religieuses dans des contextes diasporiques allant au-delà de la représentation répandue dans l’imagination mondiale des femmes maliennes en tant que victimes impuissantes. En utilisant les domaines du mariage et de la circoncision féminine, Ripero-Muñiz analyse comment ces femmes font usage de leur libre arbitre tout en négociant les pratiques culturelles et religieuses de leur communauté. En mettant l’accent sur les façons dont les femmes maliennes renégocient leur identité, cet article aide à localiser l’agence des femmes dans les communautés de réfugiés et de migrants en Afrique subsaharienne.

Resumo:

Através de uma análise etnográfica de Nairobi e Joanesburgo – duas cidades interligadas da diáspora somaliana – é possível encontrar outras narrativas acerca da vida das mulheres somalis e do modo como elas renegoceiam as suas identidades culturais e religiosas nos contextos da diáspora, superando os limites, muito presentes na imaginação internacional, da representação das mulheres somalis enquanto vítimas indefesas. Perscrutando os domínios do casamento e da circuncisão feminina, Ripero-Muñiz analisa o modo como estas mulheres exercem a sua agencialidade, ao mesmo tempo que negoceiam as práticas culturais e religiosas da sua comunidade. Ao focar os mecanismos segundo os quais as mulheres somalis renegoceiam as suas identidades, o presente artigo ajuda a compreender a agencialidade das mulheres entre as comunidades de refugiados e de migrantes na África subsaariana.

Keywords

Somali womenagencyidentitiesNairobiJohannesburgSomalinessIslam
Type
Forum: Migration in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Somali Refugee and Migrant Experience
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 65 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2020 

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