Transnational Somali Families in Cairo

Bibliographic Data

ID11405196
AuthorsMulki Al-Sharmani, Mulki Al‐sharmani (0000-0003-3138-8936, American University in Cairo, corresponding author)
Year2007
Pages88-98
Publication date2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRefuge Canada s Journal on Refuge (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0229-5113 • E-ISSN: 1920-7336
PublisherYork University Libraries (PUBLISHER • CA)
DOI10.25071/1920-7336.21370
OpenAlexW1874054405
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited1

In this article, I examine how diasporic Somalis in Cairo experience being part of transnational families. I analyze two practices through which transnational family relations are maintained, experienced, and negotiated: (1) living arrangements of relatives and management of family affairs and (2) the use of the Internet and videotapes. I argue that transnational families make collective decisions about which family members live together, where, and what their family obligations should be. However, although maintaining interdependent transnational families is crucial for the survival of family members, it has its tensions and challenges because of the competing interests and dreams of individual members. I examine these tensions and how they are negotiated by family members who live together in Cairo but share resources and family obligations with relatives living elsewhere. In short, this way of being and living in which individuals and families partake as they are physically separated in different nation- states has its uneven consequences and challenges for different Somalis depending on their legal statuses, education, gender, and identity claims

Extended family · Family reunification · Identity (music · Immigration · Interdependence · Nuclear family · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Somali · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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