MIGRANT WOMEN OF JOHANNESBURG, life in an in-between city

174 pp., illus., paperback, Johannesburg, 2013

Caroline Wanjiku Kihato examines the everyday lives of African migrant women from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe living in Johannesburg.

"Caroline Wanjiku Kihato has drawn us into the world of Johannesburg's non-South African women migrants, a world of fragmented being and liminality, of alternating experiences of suffering and achievement, and of aspirational striving in the face of a mainly hostile host city and a frighteningly mercurial state. Written with deft artistry and unblinking truthfulness." Belinda Bozzoli, University of the Witwatersrand, author of "Women of Phokeng: consciousness, life strategy, and migrancy in South Africa, 1900-1983"

"Kihato brilliantly captures the potentials and contradictions of the practices and the paradoxes involved in trying to belong somewhere. The power of this book is that it compels the reader to feel joined to these women's projects to better their lives." AbdouMaliq Simone, Research Professor, University of Australia, author of "City Life from Jakarta to Dakar: movements at the Crossroads"

Caroline Wanjiku Kihato is Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand.