Veils and Videos : Female Youth Culture on the Kenyan Coast

Today we talk increasingly of globalization and declare that the world is growing smaller. Communication technology is credited with a major part in the creation of a global consciousness. What does this mean to people who live in the various corners of the world? The aim of this book is to contribute to our understanding of this process of social transition from the perspective of urban youth – with a specific focus on young women in Lamu Town. Here, gender and intergenerational relations, lifestyles and aspirations have been remoulded during the last few decades. The cultural expressions of young people, immersed in the process of developing an adult identity, reveal new preoccupations with modernity, morality, choice, romance, and style. Analysing the influence of the mass media, education, tourism and other agents of change is the key to our understanding of this process. Contemporary youth cultures and their engagement with media have so far not been the object of study in the southern part of the globe. The ethnography presented here aims to contribute to filling this gap in knowledge.