Diaspora and British-Somali youth

Blog post by Spencer Swain, York St John University, UK

In the heart of Northern England, a quiet cultural ritual unfolds behind closed doors: young British-Somali men gather in mafrish (khat cafes) spaces to chew khat, a bitter leaf native to the Horn of Africa. Far from being solely a leisure activity, this practice is deeply embedded in questions of identity, belonging and resistance. As I explore in my Identities article, ‘Don't forget the juicy fruits’: khat-chewing, diaspora, and identity amongst young British-Somali men in the North of England’, khat-chewing functions as a powerful cultural anchor for diasporic youth navigating the complexities of British urban life.

Khat (Catha edulis) is a mild stimulant traditionally consumed in Somaliland and surrounding regions such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen. In the diaspora, its use has been reappropriated to fit the cultural and social dynamics of a new context, serving not only as a link to heritage but also as a coping mechanism amid experiences of marginalization, Islamophobia and racialization. Within the mafrish, young men engage in storytelling, debate and ritualized consumption that echo the cultural rhythms of their ancestral homeland.

Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork, my research challenges binary understandings of identity. Rather than viewing British-Somali youth as caught between two worlds, the study reveals how they actively construct hybrid selves that blend Somaliness with Britishness. In this context, it is documented how khat-chewing becomes a site of ‘diasporic consciousness’, where cultural memory and contemporary experience intersect. As one participant put it, ‘Chewing khat makes you feel like a proper Somali’.

Yet, this practice is not without tension. Within the Somali community, khat is a source of conflict. Women's organizations and conservative religious leaders often critique its social and moral implications, highlighting issues such as domestic strain and religious incompatibility. These debates underscore the diaspora's heterogeneity and the contested meanings of cultural practices.
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The study draws on Stuart Hall's concept of identity as a process – fluid, contextual and negotiated. It also engages with Avtar Brah's notion of ‘diaspora space’ and Impek Demir's notion of ‘foreignisation’, in which the boundaries between home and host cultures blur. In this space, khat-chewing is not simply a nostalgic act but a form of cultural innovation. Young men adapt the ritual to their British context, such as chewing while watching football, listening to hip-hop, or using chewing gum to mask the bitterness of the substance, all of which demonstrate how tradition is reimagined in everyday life.

Importantly, the research foregrounds the agency of young migrants. Too often, migration studies focus on first-generation adults, rendering youth invisible or passive. This study instead seeks to document how young people are active participants in shaping diasporic identities. Through khat, they create spaces of belonging, resist exclusion and assert their place within both Somali and British culture.

The mafrish thus becomes more than a social venue; it is a vessel of cultural continuity, a site of resistance, and a laboratory for identity-making. It allows young men to perform cultural loyalty while negotiating the pressures of integration. These practices reflect broader patterns of ‘glocal’ identity formation, where global cultural flows and local experiences converge.

Ultimately, this research invites the reader to rethink how we understand diaspora, leisure and identity. It challenges deficit-based narratives that portray migrant youth as culturally dislocated or socially disengaged. Instead, it reveals a generation creatively navigating the complexities of belonging, using cultural practices like khat-chewing to make sense of their place in the world.

As Britain continues to grapple with questions of multiculturalism and integration, studies like this remind us that identity is not inherited; it is made, remade and lived in the everyday rituals of community, memory and resistance.

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Image credit: Photo by Getty Images on unsplash.com. 

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Read the Identities article:
Swain, S., Lashua, B. & Spracklen, K. (2024). ‘Don’t forget the juicy fruits’: khat-chewing, diaspora, and identity amongst young British-Somali men in the North of England. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power. DOI: 10.1080/1070289X.2025.2579402   OPEN ACCESS

Read further in Identities:

Translating Race across Time and Space: The Creation of Somali Bantu Ethnicity

‘An outward sign of an inward grace’: how African diaspora religious identities shape their understandings of and engagement in international development

Religion, Nationalism, and Transnational Civil Society in the Eritrean Diaspora