Abstract
Instrumentalized ethnic identity has been a key variable in the mobilization and molding of Kenyan politics since Britain’s colonial divide and rule policies imposed ethnic and racial dualism that emphasized difference. At independence, the post-colonial elite did not dismantle the structural architecture of ethnic-based politics. Ethnic identity therefore remains the basis for mobilization and structuring of politics in contemporary Kenya. This dominance of ethnic-based politics, though explained variously, is a product of the conflation of political economy-induced interests where elites instrumentalize ethnicity in political mobilization to ensure their own survival and reproduction.
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Mati, J.M. (2019). Ethnicity and Politics in Kenya. In: Ratuva, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_24-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_24-1
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