The manual, Beyond Ethnicism. Exploring Racial and Ethnic Diversity for Educators, a first of its kind in Kenya, speaks to the key issues of ethnic and racial belonging that are such a key-determining factor in defining and dividing Kenyans. These two issues influence many social, economic and especially political decisions. The manual transcends the limitations of current discussions on ethnicism and racism. Questions of ethnic and racial belonging are connected to some of the deepest moral and political decisions of our time. Belonging is an emotional subject that as a country citizens should not lose capacity to discuss coherently. An educator who wanted to know how to end ethnicism and racism inspired the writing of this manual. Ethnic and racial favoritism as well as discrimination have seeped into the Kenyan education system. Educators sit in staff-rooms as members of political parties or ethnic communities and sometimes consciously or unconsciously perpetuate ethnic and racial stereotypes and prejudices. Educators find talking about ethnicism and racism difficult. They do not know where to begin yet they can recognise ethnicism and racism in learners. Sometimes they practice it themselves, favouring or discriminating learners on the basis of ethnicity or race. Educators are sometimes helpless in arresting ethnicist and racist practices in their learners or themselves, as they do not have the tools to do so. This manual is a practical resource which assists educators in contextualising ethnic and race related concerns without undermining the human rights, it also helps in creating the space for discourse amongst educators on how to combat ethnicism and racism. It asks rarely addressed critical and significant questions on the meaning of ethnic and racial belonging. The manual addresses the arresting of stereotypes and prejudice before they morph into actual discrimination and sometimes violence.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) was set up to facilitate and promote equality of opportunity, good relations, harmony and peaceful coexistence between persons of the different ethnic and racial communities of Kenya, and to advise the Government on all aspects thereof after the violence that followed the December 2007 elections. In Kenya, Bridging Ethnic Divides: A Commissioners Experience on Cohesion and Integration, Commissioner Alice Wairimu Nderitu looks behind the scenes at the NCICs efforts to ensure peaceful co-existence. Such as, working with elders, mediating confidentially between political leaders at the highest levels and co-founding and working as first Co-Chair of Uwiano Platform for Peace, a conflict prevention agency largely credited with leading efforts in ensuring peaceful processes during the 2010 Constitutional referendum and 2013 General elections. The book tells of NCICs efforts in grappling with the seemingly intractable problem of managing the negative consequence of ethnic differences on questions such as: Why is Kenya so ethnically polarised? Why is an ethnic group the key defining factor in Kenyan politics? What hope is there for an inclusive Kenya? The book shows that positive policies and intra- and inter-ethnic spaces can be used to counter negative influences that lead to fear, exclusion and violence. The diversity of Kenyas ethnicities and races need not be a pretext for conflict, but a source of truly national identity. It proves that dialogue on understanding differences and commonalities leads to improved relationships and understanding on societal dynamics. This in turn, contributes to preventing and transforming conflicts through appropriate inclusion policies, identifying entry points for change as well as opportunities to tackle the norms and behaviours that underpin structural disparities.

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) was set up to facilitate and promote equality of opportunity, good relations, harmony and peaceful coexistence between persons of the different ethnic and racial communities of Kenya, and to advise the Government on all aspects thereof after the violence that followed the December 2007 elections. In Kenya, Bridging Ethnic Divides: A Commissioner’s Experience on Cohesion and Integration, Commissioner Alice Wairimũ Nderitũ looks behind the scenes at the NCIC’s efforts to ensure peaceful co-existence. Such as, working with elders, mediating confidentially between political leaders at the highest levels and co-founding and working as first Co-Chair of Uwiano Platform for Peace, a conflict prevention agency largely credited with leading efforts in ensuring peaceful processes during the 2010 Constitutional referendum and 2013 General elections. The book tells of NCIC’s efforts in grappling with the seemingly intractable problem of managing the negative consequence of ethnic differences on questions such as: Why is Kenya so ethnically polarised? Why is an ethnic group the key defining factor in Kenyan politics? What hope is there for an inclusive Kenya? The book shows that positive policies and intra- and inter-ethnic spaces can be used to counter negative influences that lead to fear, exclusion and violence. The diversity of Kenya’s ethnicities and races need not be a pretext for conflict, but a source of truly national identity. It proves that dialogue on understanding differences and commonalities leads to improved relationships and understanding on societal dynamics. This in turn, contributes to preventing and transforming conflicts through appropriate inclusion policies, identifying entry points for change as well as opportunities to tackle the norms and behaviours that underpin structural disparities.

Effects on the violence

Education is considered key for societies to achieve greater social cohesion and equality. Yet, schools, as the main providers of formal education, have increasingly come into question concerning their role in manifesting and perpetuating social categorisations, inequalities and discrimination instead of decreasing existing fragmentations and challenging power relations and hierarchies. As a diverse society, Kenya is faced with power struggles and rivalries between different groups - for instance, along ethnic lines, often constructed deep in colonial history. This affects teaching and learning in school and the result is that Kenya is faced with vast disparities in terms of educational access and success - rendering some social groups marginalised and others favoured. Positioning Diversity at Kenyan Schools explores the ways in which teachers in Kenyan primary and secondary schools experience and deal with social categorisations and diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, wealth, culture, religion, etc. in their professional practice and in the current education system. Using critical pedagogy and diversity theory as a lens for positioning diversity in Kenyan schools, the questions that this book sets out to answer are: In what ways do the teachers' and schools' practices lead to transformation in terms of more social equality and less discrimination? In what ways do the practices manifest existing group categorisations, hierarchies and discrimination? How can schools and teaching practices in postcolonial Kenya become more inclusive and foster social cohesion and equality?

This book is more than just a study of ethnic politics in Kenya and Nigeria. The two countries are a microcosm of the entire continent: the problems it faces, its successes and failures, and the hope and despair of hundreds of millions of its people whose aspirations have been frustrated by decades of corrupt leadership that has skilfully exploited one of Africa's biggest weaknesses -- tribalism. But the people themselves are also responsible for that. They have allowed tribalism to flourish and destroy the countries. And they have allowed unscrupulous politicians to use and abuse them -- without storming the Bastille. What they are not responsible for is dictatorship African leaders instituted to perpetuate themselves in office by exploiting tribalism. These despots have been so good at it, and have done it for so long since independence, that many African countries are now on the brink of collapse, with the people at war against themselves.

Kenya has a rich and complex history. Due to the vast discoveries of prehistoric archaeological remains, Kenya is one of the few places in the world with the largest and most complete record of human’s cultural development. Furthermore, the country’s strategic location astride the Indian Ocean and the East African littoral attracted numerous foreigners such as the Arabs, Persians, Portuguese, Americans, British, Chinese, French, and Germans. Additionally, immigrants from throughout Africa and beyond have settled in Kenya to escape conflict or political persecution, while others wanted an opportunity to begin a new life. As a result of being a gateway to the world, the country traditionally has been one of the most important business, cultural, diplomatic, and political centers in Africa. Still, Kenya, like many other countries throughout the world, has been plagued by an increasing array of complex economic, political, and social challenges. Historical Dictionary of Kenya, Fourth Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Kenya.

This book surveys the state of knowledge regarding development and humanitarian non-government organisation (NGO) responses to preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE). It delineates the nexus and shared objectives between P/CVE and development/humanitarian NGO frameworks and outlines a reframing of the concept of VE into violent and hateful extremism (VHE) as a shift to a more nuanced understanding which addresses inherent complexities and entanglements more deeply. The diversity of case studies, datasets, and author perspectives serves to advance knowledge on this topic and provide useful evidence and insights to inform policy and practice. This book will be a valuable resource for students, academics and professionals interested in international humanitarian, development operations and conflict resolution. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Conflict, Security & Development.

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, grade: A, The University of York, language: English, abstract: Based on the instrumentalist theory of ethnic conflict, the paper examines into the theoretical understanding of how the electoral competition triggers the politicization of ethnicity and ethicized conflict in Kenya. The paper critically interrogates how the Kenyan political elites have used ethnicity as a tool to mobilize their ethnic groups promising to create political and socio-economic opportunities for them at the expense of neglecting the other tribes. Furthermore, the paper scrutinizes the trajectory of politics since 1963 up until 2007 post-election crisis and how the politicization of ethnicity created a sense of mistrust and national division among the diverse ethnic communities in Kenya. Keyword: Electoral Competition, Politicisation of Ethnicity, Kenya