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Tradition, tribe and state in Kenya: the Mijikenda Union, 1945-1980

Willis, Justin; Gona, George

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Authors

George Gona



Abstract

The apparent mobilizing power of ethnic sentiment in recent African history has been the subject of vigorous debate. Studies that emphasize the centrality of colonialism and the instrumental use of ethnicity have been criticized by a scholarship arguing that the affective power of ethnicity is culturally rooted through longstanding experience and practice, and that both manipulation and invention are constrained by this. This paper contributes to that debate through a discussion of the history of the Mijikenda, one of the “super-tribes” of modern Kenyan politics. It suggests that there were indeed “limits to invention,” but that there was nonetheless substantial entrepreneurship and creativity in the politics of Mijikenda identity. This drew heavily on the productive, discursive tension between tradition and modernity that lay at the heart of colonialism and was drawn into vigorous debates over legitimacy and representation in the “critical juncture” of the final years of colonial rule.

Citation

Willis, J., & Gona, G. (2013). Tradition, tribe and state in Kenya: the Mijikenda Union, 1945-1980. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 55(2), 448-473. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0010417513000091

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Apr 1, 2013
Deposit Date Mar 5, 2012
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Comparative Studies in Society and History
Print ISSN 0010-4175
Electronic ISSN 1475-2999
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 55
Issue 2
Pages 448-473
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/s0010417513000091

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Copyright Statement
Copyright © Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History 2013. This paper has been published in a revised form subsequent to editorial input by Cambridge University Press in 'International Comparative studies in society and history' (55: 2 (2013) 448-473) http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=CSS





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