ABSTRACT
Somali settlement in the UK originated long before the onset of the civil war, with the earliest Somali migration dating back to the nineteenth century. During the period of British colonial rule in the former Protectorate of Somaliland, migrants worked as sailors and traders with the British merchant navy and established communities around major UK ports, such as London, Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff. This chapter is about the first generation of Somali women to arrive in the UK following the civil war, and their efforts and struggles to live, work and raise their children abroad. It describes the migration and settlement patterns of Somalis in London, in order to provide a backdrop to the financial, practical and emotional experiences of Somali families in the UK. The chapter also describes the ways in which Somali women have replaced a desire for the ‘modern’ with pious pursuits by drawing on a reformist discourse which advocates a separation between Islam and ‘traditional culture’.
