1st Edition
Political Protest in Contemporary Kenya Change and Continuities
This book analyses the emergence, strategies, and outcomes of the struggle to embed democratic governance and constitutional order in Kenya, showcasing both the power and the limits of citizen agency in the struggle to transform a postcolonial African state.
Utilising data from primary interviews, media, and existing literature, this book analyses the emergence, diffusion, operational strategies, and outcomes of Kenyan constitutional reform struggles with a view to highlighting both the power and limits of social movement in transforming a postcolonial African state. It engages intersections of social movement and theories of democratisation to probe the production, operations, and outcomes of the disruptive yet creative power of the movements at the centre of the struggle to transform the Kenyan constitution. The book also appraises the "meanings" of, and developments after, the promulgation of the 2010 constitution with a view to illuminating the prospects for a transformative democratic political order in Kenya. This book is a useful tool in understanding the struggles specific to Kenya, but also offers insights into other democratic struggles on the African continent and beyond.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars of social movements and political change in Africa in general and Kenya in particular.
1. The Seeds of Contemporary Kenyan Constitutional Reform Struggles: An Introduction 2. Crystallisation of the Constitutional Change Movement 3. The Ufungamano Initiative: A Movement of Movements 4. Leadership, Framing, and Mobilisation Strategies 5. Success and its Paradoxes 6. A Dream Deferred 7. Uncivil Energy Begets Civil Ends 8. A Turning Point When History Failed to Turn? 9. Conclusion
Biography
Jacob Mwathi Mati is a senior lecturer in sociology at Sol Plaatje University, South Africa and an associate research fellow at the Society, Work & Politics (SWOP) Institute at The University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
