We Are the Sons of Mau Mau! Re-Assessing the Historiography of Resistance in Kenya, 1924-2008
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21573010 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mwangi J Macharia Mwangi J Macharia, Mwangi J Macharia (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Issue | 17 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Afrika Zamani (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0850-3079 • E-ISSN: 0850-3079 |
| Publisher | CODESRIA - Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.57054/az.vi17.1834 |
| OpenAlex | W4385228799 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
Mungiki is a politico-religious group and a banned criminal organization in Kenya. The organisation, which apparently originated in the late 1980s, is secretive and bears some similarity to mystery religions. Specifics of their origin and doctrines are unclear. What is clear is that they favour a return to indigenous African traditions and reject Westernisation and all trappings of colonialism. These include; rejection of Christianity, and the practice by the Mungiki of forced female genital cutting. The ideology of the group is characterised by revolutionary rhetoric, Kikuyu traditions, and a disdain for modernization, which is seen as immoral corruption. Their participation in recent ethnic wars in Kenya has evoked serious academic concerns on the group. What is interesting is that the followers of the so-called Mungiki youth sect, whose 500,000 members see themselves as ‘the true sons of the Mau Mau’. By using interdisciplinary approaches, I intend to show the myriad ways in which youth construct their own identity and how they derive power and inspirations from the past (Mau Mau). I not only introduce problems surrounding conceptions of Mungiki and the generation, but also show how conflicts between the young (Mungiki) and older (Mau Mau) generations reconfigure power in society
Christianity · Christianization · Colonialism · Ethnic group · Historiography · Ideology · Indigenous · Modernization theory · Political science · Politics · Rhetoric · Sociology · Theology · Westernization · African history and culture studies · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Gender Studies · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies
The myth of 'Mau Mau'
The Culture of Politics in Modern Kenya
Economic Reform, Political Liberalization and Economic Ethnic Conflict in Kenya
The Coming of Africa's Second Independence
The rise of a party-state in Kenya
African Jubilee
Urban Violence in Kenya's Transition to Pluralist Politics, 1982-1992
The Stable Minority
Histories of the hanged
Revisiting Our Indigenous Shrines Through Mungiki
Kenya
Decolonization and Independence in Kenya 1940-1993
Fighting Two Sides
The Politics of Opposition in Contemporary Africa
Kenyan Capitalists, the State, and Development
The 'irrelevant' state, ethnicity, and the quest for nationhood in Africa
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |