Paper short abstract:

Based on research with Somali migrants in Kenya, this paper looks at the unsettling effects return migration can have by focussing on three aspects, conspicuous consumption, alienation from the local population, and the impact on migration aspirations.

Paper long abstract:

This paper looks at the unsettling effects return migration can have by focussing on three aspects, conspicuous consumption, alienation from the local population, and the impact on migration aspiration. While conspicuous consumption is one of the symbols of a ‘successful’ migration abroad, these practices of return migrants also have unsettling effects by alienating parts of the local population from the idea of migration and ‘becoming like them’, and at the same time serve as encouragement to migrate for others. This paper is based on anthropological fieldwork with Somali migrants in Kenyan cities and will zoom into the effects of return migration on potential outmigration from the region. By trying to use the concept of ruination, the presentation will discuss in how far return migrants embody a specific kind of ‘migration’ which has shifted its form and meaning over the last decades.