You are here

Kenya

, Against Her Will. Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Women Worldwide, Open Society Foundations, 2011

This Open Society Foundations fact sheet provides information on instances of forced sterilization of racial and ethnic minorities, poor women, women living with HIV, and women with disabilities in Chile, Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Hungary, India, Mexico, Namibia, Kenya, Peru, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Venezuela, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uzbekistan. It also provides recommendations for governments, medical professionals, UN agencies, and donors on how to end the practice of forced and coerced sterilization.

Ahmed-Ali, Fatuma, Women’s agency and violence against women: the case of the Coalition on Violence Against Women in Kenya, African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review, Vol. 7, no. 1, 2017, pp. 51-65

This case study of COVAW is used to provide in-depth analysis of how this women’s organization represents women’s agency in addressing violence against women and girls in Kenyan society. It also illustrates that women do have the capacity and ability to combat violence in their society.

Ajayi, Titilope, #MeToo, Africa and the politics of transnational activism, 2018

Debates of the reasons why the Western #MeToo campaign didn’t spread as much in the African continent as it did in the US, UK, France, India and China. The article also briefly outlines the various campaigns that have evolved instead, such as #EndRapeCulture in South Africa; #MyDressismyChoice in Uganda and Kenya; #BeingfemaleinNigeria. Other protests includes #Nopiwouma (‘I will not shut up’) and #Doyna (‘That’s enough’) in Senegal

See also http://theconversation.com/metoo-isnt-big-in-africa-but-women-have-launched-their-own-versions-112328

Anyang' Nyong'o, Peter, Popular Struggles for Democracy, ed. Anyang' Nyong'o, Peter, London, Zed Books, 1987, pp. 288

Contributors provide case studies of Morocco, Uganda, People’s Republic of Congo, South Africa, Ghana, Liberia, Kenya and Swaziland.

Arnold, Guy, Kenyatta and the Politics of Kenya, London, Dent, 1974, pp. 226

Study of the political figure who was central to the struggle for independence from 1928 and became head of Kenya’s first African government.

Barkham, Patrick, Can planting billions of trees save the planet?, The Guardian, 2019, pp. 10-11

Barkham notes the major potential value of reforestation to limit global warming and preserve biodiversity as well as local economic benefits. But he also stresses the dangers of ignoring the importance of planting local species or relying on technologies that may require minerals under old forests. His article focuses on the role of the 'TreeSisters' charity founded in 2014, which funds tree planting in India, Nepal, Brazil, Kenya, Cameroon and Madagascar. In Madagascar the focus is partly on replanting lost mangroves (providing multiple environmental benefits).

Bennett, George ; Smith, Alison, Kenya: from “White Man’s Country” to Kenyatta’s state 1945-1963, In , History of East Africa Oxford, Clarendon Press, , 1976, London, Clarendon Press, pp. 109-156

Summary of developing African opposition, including early ‘passive resistance’ and land protests, attempts at unionization, and links with the East African Indian National Congress, as well as role of Mau Mau.

Clayton, Anthony ; Savage, Donald C., Government and Labour in Kenya, 1895-1963, London, Frank Cass, 1974, pp. 481

Franceschet, Susan ; Krook, Mona Lena ; Tan, Netina, The Palgrave Handbook of Women’s Political Rights, ed. Ennaji, Moha, Sadiqi, Fatima, Vintges, Karen, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, pp. 784

Covers women’s political rights across all major regions of the world, focusing both on women’s right to vote and women’s right to run for political office. The countries explored are Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, New Zealand, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, South Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, the United States, Uganda, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe.

Gadsden, Fay, Notes on the Kamba destocking controversy of 1938, International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 7, no. 4, 1974, pp. 681-687

Gustafson, Lindsey, Kenya: The Struggle to Create a Democracy, Brigham Young University Law Review, Vol. 2, 1995, pp. 647-651

Kenyatta, Jomo, Suffering Without Bitterness: The Founding of the Kenya Nation, Nairobi, East Africa Publishing House, 1968, pp. 348

Lahai, John ; Moyo, Khanyisela, Gender in Human Rights and Transitional Justice, ed. Khamis, Sahar, Amel, Mili, Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, pp. 294

The authors challenge the (dominant) one-sided representations of gender in the discourses on human rights, and also transitional justice (involving new approaches to redressing recent major suffering and oppression). They examine how transitional justice and human rights institutions, as well as political institutions, impact the lives and experiences of women with references to Argentina, Bosnia, Egypt, Kenya, Peru, Sierra Leone, and Sri Lanka. They focus especially, in a variety of contexts, on the relationships between local and global forces.

Maathai, Wangaari, The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experiences, [1985], New York, Lantern Books, 2004, pp. 117

Maathai, Wangaari, Unbowed: A Memoir, Vintage, 2006, pp. 338

(also published as: Unbowed: My Autobiography, Anchor 2008)

By prominent Kenyan woman who promoted mass planting of trees by women at grassroots level through the Green Belt Movement (founded in 1977) to reverse effects of deforestation. She also undertook vigils and fasts for human rights under the dictatorship of President Moi. See also her book: , The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experiences [1985] New York, Lantern Books, , 2004, pp. 117

Mboya, Tom, Freedom and After, London, Deutsch, 1963, pp. 288

Mboya was a union leader and prominent in Kenya’s independence struggle. His book also covers negotiations with Britain.

Murungi, Kiraitu, President Moi and the Decline of Democracy in Kenya, Trans-Africa Forum, Vol. 8, no. 4, 1991, pp. 3-18

Nepstad, Sharon Erickson, Nonviolent Revolutions: Civil Resistance in the Late Twentieth Century, Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 178

Compares ‘unsuccessful’ and ‘successful’ movements against Socialist regimes (Tiananmen and East Germany 1989), against military regimes (Panama and Chile in the 1980s) and against personal dictators (Kenyan opposition to Moi and the Philippines struggle against Marcos). Draws some fairly brief general conclusions.

Neuwirth, Robert, Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters: A New Urban World, London, Routledge, 2006, pp. 335

Author lived in squatter communities in Rio, Bombay, Nairobi (where squatting was linked to building new homes) and Istanbul.

Odinga, Oginga, Not Yet Uhuru, [1967], London, Heinemann, 1984, pp. 323

Autobiography of a nationalist leader, a rival of Mboya, who in the mid-1960s left the ruling Kenyan African National Union because he disagreed with land resettlement and economic policies, and argued for greater socialism. Includes references to 1938 destocking campaign and to strikes.

Olukoshi, Adebayo, The Politics of Opposition in Contemporary Africa, ed. Olukoshi, Adebayo, Uppsala, Nordiska Afikrainstitutet, 1998, pp. 328

Contributors assess the efforts and problems of oppositions in difficult circumstances, and also consider issues of leadership and organization. The book includes case studies of Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Press, Robert, Peaceful Resistance in Contemporary Africa: Nonviolent Social Movements in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Liberia, ed. Chiba, Shin, Shoenbaum, Thomas, Paper presented at the September 2-5, 2010 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association,Washington, D.C., 2010

Press compares peaceful civil resistance in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Liberia to explore the impact of different levels of repression. In Kenya increasing open confrontation with the regime from the 1980s led to a 'culture of resistance' and the ousting of the ruling party in the election of 2002. In Sierra Leone activists faced both repression and the impact of the civil war. In Liberia, where repression was harshest, there was nevertheless resistance by journalists, women, students, the Catholic Church and others to both Samuel Doe and later Charles Taylor.

See also: ‘Civil Resistance of Ordinary People against Brutal Regimes in Africa: Cases of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Kenya’, International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.

https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/civil-resistance-of-ordinary-people-against-brutal-regimes-in-africa-cases-of-sierra-leone-liberia-and-kenya/

This link offers a 56-minute video and transcript of the webinar led by Robert Press on the same topic.

Press, Robert M., Peaceful Resistance: Advancing Human Rights and Democratic Freedom, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2006, pp. 227

Primarily with reference to Kenya, discusses interplay of human rights advocacy and democratic resistance in authoritarian state. Articles by Press on nonviolent movements in Kenya, Liberia and Sierra Leone can be downloaded from: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1319605.

Roessler, Philip G., Donor induced democratization and the privatization of state violence in Kenya and Rwanda, Comparative Politics, Vol. 37, no. 2 (January), 2005, pp. 207-227

Sabar, Galia, Church, State and Society in Kenya: From Mediation to Opposition 1963-1993, London, Frank Cass, 2002, pp. 334

Explores role of Christianity in colonial and post-colonial society and shows the crucial role of the churches in promoting an alternative politics.

Samanga, Rufaro, Kenyan students launch #CampusMeToo movement on University of Nairobi Campus, OkayAfrica, 2019

Brief account of the emergence of #CampusMeToo movement in 2019, which aims to tackle the sexual harassment of students on Kenyan university campuses. The movement arose after ActionAid and UN Women teamed up and conducted a survey which reportedly found that 1 in 2 female students and 1 in 4 male students have been sexually harassed to some degree by staff at Kenyan universities. 

See also https://www.nation.co.ke/Students-campaign-to-end-sexual-harassment-in-varsities/1148-5370260-14wikij/index.html

Throup, David ; Hornsby, Charles, Multi-Party Politics in Kenya: The Kenyatta and Moi States and the Triumph of the System in the 1992 Election, Oxford, Nairobi and Athens OH, James Currey, EAEP and Ohio University Press, 1998, pp. 660