Before the Looking Glass: An Informed Questions Paper on Kenyan Politics
Abstract
Political scientist Angelique Haugerud has lived or worked in Kenya for 25 years and posits that those seeking even a shallow understanding of Kenyan politics must first appreciate the role of "baraza." At one level baraza is simply the omnipresent gathering of Kenyans, met for the purpose of interaction between the governed and the governors, be it the village conclave chaired by elders or the national address delivered by the president. But a baraza, typically unstructured in content yet stylized in form, reflects the tensions of Kenyan society and politics, a ying and yang of "security and danger, predictability and surprise, cohesion and conflict, conformity and creativity." The error, Haugerud argues, is that too often observers of Kenya will focus on one side of the baraza writ large. When Kenya in the 1970's and 1980's drew fulsome praise as a stable "island" in the sea of African continental turmoil, its internal social turbulence was ignored. Then, when political/social conflict surfaced in the 1990's, commentators suggested Kenya was in irreversible decay, overlooking the nation's considerable cohesiveness. In analyzing Kenya politics, allow for the mirror reflection, the apposite tendency that marks Kenyan political intercourse, and provides it a Carollian twist.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA441585
Entities
People
- Juan A. Alsace
Organizations
- National War College