‘Don’t forget the juicy fruits’: khat-chewing, diaspora, and identity amongst young British-Somali men in the North of England

This ethnographic study examines how young British-Somali men in Northern England utilise khat-chewing as a cultural practice to negotiate hybrid identities formed by migration, marginalisation, and transnational belonging. Drawing on 18 months of fieldwork, the research reveals how khat consumption within mafrish spaces functions as a ritual of cultural continuity, enabling participants to maintain symbolic ties to Somali heritage while navigating British urban life. These practices challenge binary notions of identity, illustrating how diasporic youth construct fluid, contextual selves that blend Somaliness with Britishness. Khat-chewing emerges as both a coping mechanism and a form of resistance, offering a sense of belonging amid experiences of exclusion, Islamophobia, and racialisation. The study highlights the agency of young migrants in shaping diasporic spaces and identities, contributing to broader debates on hybridity, glocalisation, and the politics of cultural expression in postcolonial Britain.