Young men, poverty and aspirational masculinities in contemporary Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Building on recent calls for more focus on street-level optimism about life and the world, we address the question of ‘aspirational masculinities’ among poor urban young men in Kenya. Our data and material come from ethnographic work with young men in two slum communities in the country’s capital city, Nairobi. While acknowledging that, in their neighborhoods, ‘proper’ masculinity is constituted in traditional terms of marriage, hardiness, provisioning, breadwinning and self-reliance, youth in our study aspired to masculinities characterized by ‘abler’ breadwinnerhood, caring, positive emotions, relationality, and the rejection of violence. The masculinity aspirations of poor Nairobi youth are complex; fashioned at the crossroads of structural constraints and agentive projects for a good life, and simultaneously supportive and resistive of traditional hegemonic manliness ideals. These aspirations are limited by and reflect an objective condition of everyday and enduring inequality while also signifying a deep unmet yearning for positive social and livelihood changes.

Keywords:

• Young men
• masculinity
• aspirational masculinity
• informal settlements
• Nairobi
• Kenya

Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Ford Foundation, the European Research Council Consolidator grant for the Becoming Men: Performing responsible masculinities in contemporary urban Africa project, and the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam. We are heavily indebted to the people of Korogocho and Viwandani, Nairobi, Kenya for the data used in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chimaraoke O. Izugbara

Chimaraoke O. Izugbara currently directs the Global Health, Youth and Development research portfolio at the International Center for Research on Women. He holds PhDs in Health Anthropology and in Social Work and Development from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. His research focuses the intersections of gender, sexuality, health, development and poverty.

Carolyne P. Egesa

Carolyne P. Egesa holds a master’s degree from the University of Southampton, UK and is currently a PhD candidate in Medical Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Her research addresses gender, gender-based violence, and masculinities in urban African contexts.