Dissertation: Kilimani Chinatown: The Racial and Ecological Politics of Chinese Foodways in Nairobi
As China develops its diplomatic efforts across the African continent and much of the developing world, new diaspora communities are putting down roots in cities like Nairobi. My research examines how global narratives of China-Africa relations structure and are structured by the lived experiences of Chinese expatriates and Kenyan citizens working together in food industries. I argue that food-based ethnic stereotypes not only influence how Chinese and Kenyan people relate in daily life, but also shape supply chains and non-human ecosystems. These material consequences in turn strengthen stereotyped rhetoric in a dialectical process that reinforces the enduring ambivalence of China-Africa relations. My dissertation examines six facet of the emerging Kenyan-Chinese food system, from the growth of fusion restaurants and an examination of geopolitical suspicion to an interaction-level analysis of multilingual encounters at a small Chinese takeaway restaurant in Nairobi’s Kilimani neighborhood.
One chapter explores Kenyan purple tea, a unique variety of tea leaf developed by Kenyan researchers in 2011. I examine how purple tea stakeholders draw from Chinese tea culture to promote a healthier diet and economy for Kenyans in a changing postcolonial world.
Another chapter expands beyond Nairobi to follow a single species, freshwater crayfish, from Chinese restaurants to remote lakes in central Kenya. In tracing this elusive supply chain, I explore how crayfish reveal insights into the political ecology of invasive species and the perceived threat of Chinese incursions into Africa. An article based on this chapter is currently under peer review.
Other Work: Goat Meat and Multicultural Foodways in the United States
Why don’t Americans eat more goat meat? My paper, “Artisanal Slaughter: The Multicultural Ethics of Goat Meat in Vermont,” has been accepted for publication at Anthropological Quarterly, a top peer-reviewed journal in sociocultural anthropology. The paper draws on interviews conducted in my home state of Vermont in 2020-2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines how on-farm and custom slaughtering practices—what I call “artisanal slaughter”— offer ethically fulfilling pathways for Vermont farmers and consumers of diverse ethnic backgrounds to sell and buy goat meat. This paper won the 2023 Christine Wilson Award (AAA, Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition) for best graduate student paper.
As part of a larger project, I hope to expand my research on goat meat to the United States more broadly. I hope to learn more about the industry’s regulatory and political-economic constraints while promoting sustainable access to preferred cultural foods for the nation’s diverse communities.
