Abstract:
Using data derived chiefly from the Somali community in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this
paper explores the challenges confronting its youth. The findings are the result of an
ongoing ethnographic engagement with this community that has been conducted for
over a decade. Stressing that marginalisation is due to the combined impact of race,
religion and class, the article points to the factors that have led some youth in the
direction of drugs and crime while others have opted for radical Islam. In the post-9/
11 era of securitisation, with evidence of over-policing of the Somali community, the
challenges to incorporation are intensified due to the ongoing Othering process of this
refugee group.
