Book
Transnational Nomads (2006) by Cindy Horst: how Somalis cope with life in the Dadaab camps
Transnational Nomads: How Somalis Cope with Refugee Life in the Dadaab Camps of Kenya is a 2006 book by the anthropologist Cindy Horst, published by Berghahn Books. Based on fieldwork among Somalis in Kenyan camps and towns from 1995 to 2001, it challenges the image of refugees as helpless victims and shows how Somalis drew on a nomadic heritage of mobility and wide social networks, including money sent by relatives abroad, to cope with life in the camps.
Transnational Nomads
- Author
- Cindy Horst
- Year
- 2006
- Publisher
- Berghahn Books
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9781845455095
- Sources
- 3 sources
The book
Transnational Nomads: How Somalis Cope with Refugee Life in the Dadaab Camps of Kenya is by Cindy Horst, an anthropologist who studied at the Refugee Studies Centre in Oxford, worked for an organisation assisting refugees, and became a senior researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). It was published by Berghahn Books as volume 19 of its Forced Migration series, in hardback in May 2006 and paperback in December 2007, with 252 pages (Berghahn Books; PRIO).
How it was researched
Horst carried out fieldwork among Somalis in the Dadaab refugee camps and in Kenyan towns between 1995 and 2001, and among Somalis in Europe (Berghahn Books). The camps are described on Dadaab and the Kenya camps.
Its argument
The book starts from the common tendency to see all refugees as "vulnerable victims", an image reinforced by pictures of people in harsh conditions. Horst challenges this by looking at the personal and social histories refugees bring with them. She shows how Somalis in Dadaab drew on a nomadic heritage of mobility and wide social networks, reaching as far as Europe and the United States, to manage the insecurity of camp life (Berghahn Books).
Chapters
- At a Distance? An Introduction
- A Nomadic Heritage: Past Ways of Coping With Insecurity Amongst the Somali
- Refugee Life in the Camps: Providing Security or Sustaining Dependency?
- Transnational Livelihoods: The Role of Taar and Xawilaad
- Buufis: Imagining or Realising Migration to the West
- Historical and Transnational Approaches to Refugee Studies
Chapter 4 looks at taar (messages sent by radio and telephone) and xawilaad (money transfers through the hawala system), by which relatives abroad supported people in the camps. Chapter 5 is about buufis, the Somali word for the longing to migrate to the West (Berghahn Books). See Hawala and money transfer companies and Remittances in numbers.
How it was received
- Jeff Crisp of the UN refugee agency UNHCR called it "by far the best account of what has become known as a 'protracted refugee situation'" (Berghahn Books).
- A review in African Affairs said it "should be read by anybody who wants to work with or is currently working with refugees" (Berghahn Books).
- Laura Hammond, in the Journal of Refugee Studies, praised the open way Horst discusses her research methods (Berghahn Books).
- The Forced Migration Current Awareness blog named it a "Book of the Decade" (Berghahn Books).
Where to read it
- In a library: WorldCat
Related pages
Sources
- Berghahn Books · berghahnbooks.com
- PRIO · prio.org
- WorldCat · search.worldcat.org
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Where this matters
- Garbahaarrey (Garbaharey) and GedoGedo is the south-western region on the borders with Kenya and Ethiopia, with Garbahaarrey as its capital and about 1 million people.
- Kismaayo (Kismayo) and Lower JubaLower Juba is the far southern region on the border with Kenya, with the port city of Kismayo (Kismaayo) as its capital and about 1.2 million people.
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
Keep reading
- City of Thorns (2016) by Ben Rawlence: nine lives in the Dadaab campsBen Rawlence's City of Thorns (2016) on the Dadaab camps in Kenya: the nine Somali lives it follows, its main argument and how reviewers received it.
- Desert Flower (1998) by Waris Dirie: from nomad girl to model and campaignerWaris Dirie's Desert Flower (1998): her nomad childhood, escape, modelling career and campaign against FGM; its publication, translations and the 2009 film.
- Infidel (2006) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: the memoir, its story and its receptionAyaan Hirsi Ali's memoir Infidel (Mijn Vrijheid, 2006): what it covers from Somalia to the Dutch parliament, sales, praise, criticism and later books.
- Keeping Hope Alive (2013) by Hawa Abdi: a doctor's memoir of the war yearsHawa Abdi's memoir Keeping Hope Alive (2013): her training, the clinic and camp on her family's land, the attack of 2010, and how reviewers received it.
- A House in the Sky (2013) by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett: a memoir of captivity in SomaliaAmanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett's A House in the Sky (2013): the 2008-2009 kidnapping it describes, its reception and the debate around it, and where to read it.
- This Is What America Looks Like (2020) by Ilhan Omar: from refugee to CongressIlhan Omar's memoir This Is What America Looks Like (2020): her childhood in Mogadishu, the refugee years, life in the US and politics, and how reviewers from different sides received it.