Overheated stomachs: notes on urban life and toxicity in Nakuru, Kenya

Abstract In Nakuru, a secondary city in Kenya, herbal doctors argue that African bodies are infested by ‘dirt’. Gathering at crossroads, they teach about the dangerous effects of processed foods on bodies. During public product demonstrations, patch together urban gossip, kemikali (chemicals Kiswahili) and consumer goods from abroad to demonstrate their overheating stomachs. this article, I think through metabolism digestion how ‘navigating’ toxicity Nakuru implies bodily praxis hinges debates porosity nation's borders responding afflictions globalization. show occult character pivots collapse between insides outsides, leading stomachs, consequently interventions coating lining stomach gut do what national unable achieve: keeping out toxic intrusions. From point view, practices agency resistance worlds perceived as increasingly polluted.