Thieme, T; (2016) 'The ghetto will always be my living room': Hustling and belonging in the Nairobi slums. In: Rethinking Life at the Margins: The Assemblage of Contexts, Subjects, and Politics. (pp. 106-121). Ashgate: London, UK.

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Abstract

Hustling on the margins This is the story about the journey of a young woman who grew up in one of the oldest and largest informal settlements of Nairobi. Eliza’s story is inextricably tied to the broader narratives of hustling that feature centrally in everyday ‘creolised argot’ (Comaroff and Comaroff, 2005, p. 28) amongst Nairobi youth making a living outside the formal economy. ‘Hustling’ in the Kenyan context has shaped youth identities and their norms of adaptation to everyday adversity and uncertain futures. Eliza was one of the key protagonists of my PhD research, in many ways epitomizing and defying the logics of the ‘hustle economy’ (Thieme, 2013). Her journey included the impasses she faced as she aspired to do well – to get out just enough to be better off – but to stay anchored within the collective subculture of urban youth living in informal settlements or ‘slums’.

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