The Role of Youth in Politics: The Social Praxis of Party Politics Among the Urban Lumpen in Kenya
Date
2002Author
Kanyinga, Karuti
Njoka, John Murimi
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In multi-ethnic urban areas of Kenya, competition for political power by different political
groups often degenerates into ethnic conflict. Different political factions gather support from
the urban youth (especially the lumpen) and, in some instances, involve the youth in violent
ethnic confrontations. The ethnic elite have transformed this urban lumpen and mobilised
them for support and for eroding, through "privatised violence", the social bases of rival
factions. Accordingly, the success of any faction in the competition for political power tend to
depend on the extent to which the ethnic elite mobilise the youth against their rivals.
This paper points out that multi-partyism has "re-ethnicised" rather than "detribalised" the
urban lumpen and the youth in general. This is a disturbing phenomenon given that the youth
have acted as agents of "social detribalisation". The discussion examines the contradictions
between "re-ethnisation" and democratisation and concludes that the ethnic identities of the
youth and the urban lumpen have not prevented them from participating in directing political
change. The paper also examines the social basis of political activism processes among the
youth and their changing identities as influenced by ethnicity and other factors. The paper is
based on a qualitative survey carried out in Nairobi regarding the second multi-party electoral
politics and elections held in December 1997.
URI
http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/journals/files/journals/2/articles/933/public/933-3530-1-PB.pdfhttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/36550
Citation
African Journal of Sociology, Volume V, no. 1, 2002Publisher
University of Nairobi College of Humanities and Social Sciences