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This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ South London Somali ethnicities in superdiversity Wong, Stephen Mun Choong Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact librarypure@kcl.ac.uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 28. Sep. 2021 South London Somali ethnicities in superdiversity Stephen Mun Choong Wong A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2017 School of Social Science and Public Policy Department of Language, Discourse and Communication 1 Abstract This thesis examines what the notion of Somali ethnicity might mean in a modern urban context in the UK. In a departure from essentialist notions of ethnicity, it offers an account of multiple ways in which Somali ethnicities might be understood, by focusing closely on ten people of Somali descent (three adults and seven young people) at a local community centre in South London. The thesis develops an ethnographically informed analysis, drawing on observational field notes, together with recordings of naturally occurring speech events and of informal conversational interviews. It argues that interpretations and understandings of Somali ethnicities are inextricably linked to the mundane realities of place and locale – in this case a teeming multi-ethnic, superdiverse context in South London. In conditions of superdiversity there are few certainties about the link between specific ethnic labels and the actual lives of individuals existing under these labels. In this research an account is given of the significant differences in the biographical trajectories and diaspora connections of a range of individuals who all refer to themselves as Somalis. This study shows how people claiming Somali ethnicity manage, without crisis, the tensions arising from the encounter between claimed ‘traditional’ practices and the demands of urban modernity and late modernity in contemporary London. These tensions arise, for example, in relation to ‘traditional’ discourses and practices concerning kinship, clan, religion and gender. Finally, the thesis shows how, in a specific highly multi-ethnic local environment, Somalis have to both compete and cooperatively co-exist with others living under other ethnic labels. In these circumstances their Somali ethnic solidarity can often be indirectly signalled; for instance, through their routine communicative habits and the low-key unconscious assumptions they share in their everyday interactions. 2 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support of a number of people: my mother for her constant encouragements and belief in my modest abilities. My partner Mei for her understanding and efforts to alleviate some of my duties as a new father during the process of writing this thesis. Kit-Mun and Ye-Mun for providing moments of disruptive but affectionate distractions. John Gray for planting the seed of my interest in pursuing this project and his encouragements during the difficult periods. Thomas Evans for the exchange of ideas and his critical comments on my drafts. My key informants for sharing so much of the sensitive issues encountered in their life experiences and for their warmth towards my presence during my period of fieldwork. I also have to thank my close friend, Mr J. for arranging the exemplary access to the research site and for the many stimulating conversations throughout the fieldwork. Ben Rampton for his critical comments on my chapters for the PhD upgrade. Lastly, this thesis would not have materialised without the perseverance and patience of my supervisor, Roxy Harris. His critique of my work and the stimulating advice that he provided were crucial for the completion of this thesis. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... 3 List of illustrations ....................................................................................................................... 7 List of tables.................................................................................................................................. 8 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 1: Conceptualising Somali Ethnicities .......................................................................... 18 1.1 Somalis in the UK: Phases of settlement ........................................................................... 20 1.2 Somalis and the question of clan ....................................................................................... 21 1.3 UK Somalis and Muslim religiosity ................................................................................... 27 1.4 Somalis in the UK and traditional gender relations .......................................................... 31 1.5 Somalis in the UK as a ‘problem’ ethnic group ................................................................ 36 1.6 The unpredictable nature of Somali ethnicities in superdiversity ..................................... 41 1.7 Ethnicity and Somali diaspora ......................................................................................... 45 Chapter 2: Researching local Somali ethnicities ..................................................................... 49 2.1 Existing research approaches on Somalis in the UK.......................................................... 49 2.2 Some important ethnographic research on ethnicities in the UK ....................................... 55 2.3 The importance of the ethnographic element in my research ............................................ 56 2.4 The importance of the linguistic element in my research .................................................. 58 2.5 My stance as an ethnographic researcher ........................................................................... 60 2.6 The research procedure – the site, participants, instruments ............................................. 65 4 Chapter 3: ‘South London Somalis’ and their locality ........................................................... 76 3.1 Some aspects of the historical and contemporary social setting of Southwark .................. 77 3.2 Some of the emplaced signs at South Docks ..................................................................... 82 3.3 The sights and sounds of everyday diversity in South Docks ............................................ 94 3.4 The specificities of my research site ................................................................................. 99 Chapter 4: Individual portraits of South Londoners of Somali descent ............................. 103 Axmaadeey ............................................................................................................................ 104 Mohamed .............................................................................................................................. 111 Farhan .................................................................................................................................... 117 Nasra ..................................................................................................................................... 124 Safiyo ..................................................................................................................................... 128 Shamso .................................................................................................................................. 131 Abuubakar .............................................................................................................................. 134 Asad ...................................................................................................................................... 137 Naciimo .................................................................................................................................. 139 Daud ...................................................................................................................................... 142 Chapter 5: Somali traditions in modernity ...........................................................................

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