'The Algerian Woman is Very Strong’: Music, Identity and Gender in Algerian London’

Abstract

Contemporary London is home to a relatively small but vibrant Algerian diaspora community who live and work throughout the city and its surrounding areas.1 Many members of this community arrived in the UK to study or work during the 1990s and 2000s, and while the city's Algerian population is predominantly male, there are a significant number of women actively involved in the local Algerian music scene (Department for Communities and Local Government Report 2009).2 In this chapter, I explore the musicking practices of these women, seeking to understand how their musical lives are shaped by both a sense of shared Algerian cultural identity and their daily activities within the city (Small 1998). Through case studies drawn from my ethnographic fieldwork with the local Algerian community, I focus upon three individuals whose musical activities attest to the energy and agency of Algerian women in the city while revealing some of the challenges that they face.