The transformation of Kenya's agrarian sector : the case of western Kenya
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Meeting name
Sponsors
Date
Journal Title
Format
Thesis
Subject
Abstract
This study addresses the transformation process of Kenya's agrarian sector in the context of the global capitalist expansion. Elements of world system theory, dependency theory, and articulation of the modes of production theory are blended to attain an explanation for this phenomena. The following research techniques were utilized: archival research was conducted to develop the historical process that integrated Kenya's social formation and its agrarian sector into the global market economy; a survey was carried out to describe the contemporary social structure of the farming families in western Kenya; and key informants were interviewed to provide insights into the changing circumstances in western Kenya. To provide background information to the transformation process of the Kenyan social formation, precolonial modes of production were discussed; factors that influenced Great Britain in favor of an expansionist policy in the second half of the nineteenth century were analyzed; and the particular circumstances under which Kenya was colonized by Great Britain were discussed. The period 1899-1918 saw the establishment of a settler- based colonial state. This period was characterized by military expeditions and diplomatic maneuvers to subdue African resistance to the British rule; and transfer of land rights and labor from the Africans to the Europeans. The second phase of the entrenchment process, between 1919-1939, was characterized by capital injection into the European farms, introduction of machinery, and rationalization of labor relations. In the early 1920s, Africans organized ethnicallybased political associations to resist the new order. The colonial government responded by creating a semi-privileged social category in the African Reserves, thus blunting the force of the opposition. After World War II, the African struggle for independence took on a national character. To moderate the liberation movement, the colonial government offered the Swynnerton Plan to the Africans, as well as limited access to the 'White Highlands'. As a result of this, Kenya's modern agrarian society is characterized more by class than racial differences. However, as the case of western Kenya illustrates, the degree of differentiation varies due to uneven development of capital.
Table of Contents
DOI
PubMed ID
Degree
Ph. D.
Thesis Department
Rights
OpenAccess.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.