The Comforts of Home : Prostitution in Colonial Nairobi

Book Description
"This history is . . . the first fully-fleshed story of African Nairobi in all of its complexity which foregrounds African experiences. Given the overwhelming white dominance in the written sources, it is a remarkable achievement."--Claire Robertson, International Journal of African Historical Studies

"White's book . . . takes a unique approach to a largely unexplored aspect of African History. It enhances our understanding of African social history, political economy, and gender studies. It is a book that deserves to be widely read."--Elizabeth Schmidt, American Historical Review





About the Author
Luise White is assistant professor of history at the University of Minnesota.





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This book is about the history of prostitution in a city in British colonial Africa. Nairobi, women saw prostitution as a reliable means of capital accumulation, not as a despicable fate or a temporary strategy. Indeed, whether a woman invested in urban real estate for herself or bought goats for her father did not seem to have been a personal or a cultural decision. The work of prostitutes was family labor.


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