Elusive Jannah: The Somali diaspora and a borderless Muslim identity
本书比较索马里移民在阿联酋、南非和美国的不同经历，分析法律地位、经济机会与身份认同如何影响他们的迁移体验，适合关注移民与难民研究的读者。
This book takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the lives of Somalis as they migrate to different destinations in search of the jannah, the ‘earthly paradise’. Bringing together approaches of migrant and refugees studies, the author compares the experiences of Somali migrants in places where they can access different legal statuses and opportunities: the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and the United States. This ‘divergent model’ sets to explain ‘why the migrant experience in one location can be so different from that in another’ and ‘what is common about the migration experience for a particular migrant group’ (p. 16). These goals are skilfully achieved in the book. The author offers a cogent insight into the tensions that arise as members of the Somali diaspora attempt to seize the opportunities on offer in different destinations – economic gains, refugees status, and citizenship – while they are forced to adjust to a disparate variety of disadvantages. The author's focus on the migrants' agency aptly illustrates how potentially useful information transmitted via transnational networks, and which oftentimes is appropriated, shapes and enhances Somalis' aspirations to migrate further. The book also highlights how the strategies that migrants use interact with the various power dynamics. Ultimately, these affect Somalis' own evaluation of their migrations, which, as the author argues, remain strictly embedded in how ‘the receiving country's economic, political, and social dynamics align with the migrant's racial, gender, and religious sense of self’ (pp. 8–9).