This book explores relationships between war, displacement & city-making. Focusing on people seeking refuge in Somali cities after being forced to migrate by violence, environmental shocks or economic pressures, it highlights how these populations are actively transforming urban space. Using first-hand testimonies & participatory photography by urban in-migrants, the book documents & analyses the micropolitics of urban camp management, evictions & gentrification, & the networked labour of displaced populations that underpins growing urban economies. Central throughout is a critical analysis of how the discursive figure of the ‘internally displaced person’ is co-produced by various actors. The book argues that this label exerts significant power in structuring socio-economic inequalities & the politics of group belonging within different Somali cities connected through protracted histories of conflict-related migration.
