Ben Rawlence: "City of Thorns" | Talks at Google

In this talk at Google NYC, Ben Rawlence introduces his new book, City of Thorns, about life in the world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab, in northern Kenya. Rawlence spent 4 years following nine people and gained a unique insight into life in this limbo city the size of New Orleans.
Dadaab was established in 1991 for 90,000 people fleeing Somalia's civil war but has grown to over 350,000, peaking at half a million a few years ago.
Rawlence describes life in the camp, the restrictions and the temporary solutions which have gradually become permanent and discusses the international situation that keeps the refugees trapped there.
He takes questions and challenges the audience to think about this growing phenomenon of limbo cities which, he argues, are an integral part of our modern world.
SPEAKER BIO
BEN RAWLENCE is a former researcher for Human Rights Watch in the horn of Africa and former speechwriter in the UK parliament. He is the author of Radio Congo, and has written for a wide range of publications including the Guardian, the London Review of Books, NewYorker.com and Prospect. He lives in Wales in the UK with his wife and daughter.