Paper short abstract:

This paper takes camel milk markets in Eastleigh, a Nairobi enclave with a large and diverse Somali population, as a case study through which to explore urban governance and Somali women’s social, economic and political integration.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores modes of urban governance in Eastleigh, a Nairobi enclave with a large and diverse Somali population and dynamic market economy. As an outcome of Eastleigh's discordant relationship with the Kenyan state, the estate's dynamic economy and markets are fertile ground for the production of alternative institutions which govern and regulate market activities and engagements. I take the informal market in camel milk as a window through which to observe the formation and workings of such alternative institutions. I explore how the milk market functions as a resource for Somali women's social, economic and political integration in a context of displacement. Trading camel milk enables Kenyan Somali women to cash in on and maintain their ties to the pastoral economy, and newly-arrived refugee women to carve out livelihoods, gain some economic independence and be part of a community of traders. At the same time, an order of things is maintained through the milk market that privileges Kenyan Somali women as decision-makers and determiners of who is and is not allowed access to the informal market and the nature of the engagements occurring within it. While national identities and citizenships can appear insignificant in the Eastleigh context, then, they may not be entirely redundant; gender, religious and ethnic identities are crucial bases for accessing the resources that are available through the camel milk market, but national identities and citizenships continue to serve a purpose.