Boundary anxieties and infrastructures of violence: Somali identity in post-Westgate Kenya

Main author: Okech, Awino
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-26238
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
description This article explores infrastructures of violence created by ongoing contestations around insecurity related to violent insurgency in Kenya. It draws on public discourses and policy responses emerging from the September 2013 terror attack at Westgate in Nairobi. In examining security policies developed to cordon off particular geographical sites and therefore construct Kenyan Somalis as the ‘other’, I argue that what is produced is a mobile security infrastructure. This mobility is evident in a move from a singular focus on physical security installations and visible security personnel, to less visible forms of security which rely on surveillance both by the state and citizens. I examine how security infrastructure discursively and through policy mobilise and redefine Somali1 masculinities as other and therefore dangerous.
format Journal Article
author Okech, Awino
author_facet Okech, Awino
authorStr Okech, Awino
author_letter Okech, Awino
title Boundary anxieties and infrastructures of violence: Somali identity in post-Westgate Kenya
publisher Taylor and Francis
publishDate 2018
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/26238/