"Cultural dimensions of African immigrant housing in Toronto: a qualitative insight" in Housing Studies
This qualitative study examines the lived experiences of Ghanaians and Somalis in Toronto, highlighting the multifaceted interplays between their cultures, housing problems, and coping strategies. We found that, unlike the situation in their homelands where many were involved in communal living out of desire, in Toronto many are driven to live communally for reasons of cost. Also, some respondents have to either improvise, or totally forgo, various culinary practices because of the ways homes are designed in Toronto. Perhaps, no other cultural attribute was found to be more consequential in the housing decisions of our respondents than their religion; not only did it influence their choice of neighborhood and whether or not their internal living arrangements were gendered, but it also had some bearing on the acquisition of interest-laden loans for housing among many Somalis.
Joseph Mensah is a Professor in the Department of Geography at York University. Mensah works in cultural studies, transnationalism, formations of ethno-racial identity, African development, socio-spatial dialectics, race and return migration.
Other publications from this author include:
- "The Black, continental African presence and the nation-immigration dialectic in Canada" in Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture (2015)
- "Seeing/being double: how African immigrants in Canada balance their ethno-racial and national identities" in African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal (2015)
- "Black continental African identities in Canada: Exploring the intersections of identity formation and immigrant transnationalism" in Journal of Canadian Studies (2014)
- "The global financial crisis and access to health care in Africa" in Africa Today (2014)
- "Ghana's National Health Insurance: insights from members, administrators, and health care providers" in Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved (2013)
- Ghanaian and Somali immigrants in Toronto's rental market: a comparative cultural perspective of housing issues and coping strategies" in Canadian Ethnic Studies (2013)
- "Access to postsecondary education: can schools compensate for socioeconomic disadvantage?" in Higher Education (2012)
- "Gender, power, and religious transnationalism among the African diaspora in Canada" in African Geographical Review (2012)
- Black Canadians: History, Experience, Social Conditions (2010)
- Neoliberalism and Globalization in Africa: Contestations on the Embattled Continent (2008)