How 'hustling' became a political identity for young Nairobians
In short: Academics and community activists who had spent years working in Nairobi gathered in 2017 to discuss a term that kept surfacing in their research: hustling. Drawing on the perspectives of Kenyan collaborators who grew up in the city and called themselves hustlers, the group examined how this everyday survival practice had also become a way for young people to frame their struggles, their politics and their sense of agency.
The discussion treated hustling not just as street slang but as a theoretical lens shaped directly by the people who live it, rather than only by outside researchers.
The reflections came from a single workshop, held in a well-off former colonial neighbourhood, that brought together researchers and their Kenyan research partners and friends rather than from a systematic study, so the ideas reflect one group's collective thinking rather than a broad survey of hustlers' views.
Why it matters: Shows how an everyday survival tactic in Nairobi can double as a language for political agency and identity.
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Sources
- Source: Research: Thieme et al. (2021). Harnessing the ‘hustle’: struggle, solidarities and narratives of work in Nairobi and beyond Introduction. Africa. · other-oa
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