Ethnic Mixing and Tolerance in Urban Kenya: A Case Study of Mathare Informal Settelment in Nairobi City
Keywords:
Ethnicity, Tolerance, Nationhood, Diversity, Cohesion
Abstract
For any multi-ethnic society, tolerance is regarded as an integral element for social, economic, and political stability of the nation. Today, majority of the multi-ethnic nations in Africa still face the challenge on how to promote ethno-cultural tolerance and acceptance among the diverse populations. As a result, many African nations are entangled in inter-state conflicts and civil wars related to ethnic differences that pose a dilemma on whether to promote ethnic pluralism or not. In this study we examined whether ethnic mixing in the city can be a potential tool for promoting ethnic tolerance and peaceful co-existence, which can then be diffused to the rural regions and subsequently to the whole nation. The study adopted integrative study design that allowed use of mixed methods in the collection and analysis of data where eighty participants were interviewed in the initial survey and twenty-four in the in-depth interviews. Consistent with the contact theory the study found a compelling evidence that ethnic group exposure promotes cultural learning and out group accommodation, resulting to individuals who are more open to diversity. The study proposes ethnic mixing and the creation of ethnic diverse spaces as an alternative strategy for promoting ethnic understanding and nationhood. The paper is an excerpt from the author’s post-doctoral thesis on the role of rural-urban migrations in promoting ethnic integration in Kenya.
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References
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34. Sijuwade, P. O. (2011). Ethnic Tolerance in Urban Nigeria: The Case of Lagos. http://doi.org/10.3923/sscience.2011.34.39
35. Suliman, Osman (2011). The Dafur conflict. Geography or Institutions? New York. Routledge
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37. UNHCHR (2008) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008) Fact-finding Mission to Kenya.https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Press/OHCHRKenyareport
38. Uchendu, Egodi. (2007) “Recollections of Childhood Experiences during the Nigerian Civil War.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 77(3): 393-418
39. Uitermark, J., Rossi, U. and Van Houtum, H. (2005) ‘Reinventing Multiculturalism: Urban Citizenship and the Negotiation of Ethnic Diversity in Amsterdam’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 29(3): 622–640.
40. Wamwere (2003). Negative Ethnicity: From Bias to Genocide. New York. Seven Stories press.
41. Wanyande P. (2003). Reflections on the Kenyan Electoral System and Practices. Hekima Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(1):200-215
42. Wepundi, M. (2012). “Availability of Small Arms and Perceptions of Security in Kenya: An Assessment.” Geneva, Switzerland: Graduate Institute of International and Development
43. Wessel (2009) Does diversity in urban space enhance intergroup contact and tolerance? Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 91(1): 5-17. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0467.2009. 00303.x
2. Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Addison-Wesley.
3. Amin, A. (2002) ‘Ethnicity and the multicultural city: Living with diversity’, Environment and Planning A, 34(6): 959–980
4. Amin, A., & Thrift, N. (2002). Cities and ethnicities. Ethnicities, 2(3), 291-300.
5. Barlow, F.K., Paolini, S., Pedersen, A., Hornsey, M.J., Radke, H.R.M., Harwood, J., Rubin, M. & Sibley. C.G. (2012). The contact caveat: Negative contact predicts increased prejudice more than positive contact predicts reduced prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 38(28):1629-1643.
6. Bissin, Patacchini, Verdier, and Zenou, (2008) “Are Muslim Immigrants Different in Terms of Cultural Integration?” Journal of the European Economic Association, 6 (3):445–456.
7. Brown, R. & Hewstone, M. (2005). 'Contact is not enough: An intergroup perspective on the “contact hypothesis.” In Brown, M. H. A. R. Contact and Conflict in Intergroup Encounters. Oxford: Blackwell
8. Demange, G. and M. Wooders (2005). Group Formation in Economics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. Desmond Tutu (2012) Moving beyond tolerance to understanding. tutufoundationUSA.org/2012/4/tolerance –versus-understanding
10. Esteban, J., L. Mayoral, and D. Ray, (2012) “Ethnicity and Conflict: An Empirical Study,” American Economic Review 102 (4): 1210–1342.
11. Fieldhouse, E., & Cutts, D. (2010). Does diversity damage social capital? A comparative study of neighborhood diversity and social capital in the US and Britain. Canadian Journal of Political Science/Review 43 (2): 289-318.
12. Francis E. (2002). Making a Living: Changing Livelihoods in Rural Africa: Journal of Canadian African Studies 36(1): 148-50
13. Ghai (2013) Pluralism, Ethnicity and Governance in Kenya. In Ethnicity, Nationhood and Pluralism: 2010 Constitution. The Katiba Institute, Nairobi.
14. Hewstone (2015) Consequences of diversity for social cohesion and prejudice: the missing dimension of intergroup contact. J. Soc. Issues, 71 (2): 417-438
15. Ibeanu, O. and Onu (2001). Ethnic groups and conflicts in Nigeria: The Southeast Zone of Nigeria (Vol. 2). Ibadan, PEFS
16. IOM (International Organization for Migration), (2020). World Migration Report: providing perspective on migration and mobility in increasingly uncertain times, Geneva. Available: http://www.iom.int.
17. (IRC) Independent Review Commission (2008). Report of the independent review commission on Kenya’s 2007 general elections. Nairobi, Government Printer.
18. Jha, Saumitra, (2008), “Trade, Institutions and Religious Tolerance: Evidence from India.” http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=948734
19. Kasomo, D. (2012). Historical Manifestation of Ethnocentrism and its Challenges Today Maseno University Journal, 1 (1): 32-41
20. Kanyinga (2013) Pluralism, Ethnicity and Governance in Kenya. In Ghai & Ghai eds Ethnicity, Nationhood and Pluralism, Kenyan Perspectives. The Katiba Institute, Nairobi.
21. KNHCR (Kenya National Commission on Human Rights) (2017). Mirage at dusk: A human rights account of the 2017 general election. Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Nairobi, Kenya.
22. Karsten, L. (2020). Counter urbanization: Why settled families move out of the city again. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 35: 429–442. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-020-09739-3
23. Kioli, F.N. (2012). Ethnicity: The Legacy of Kenyan Politics from Colonial to Post-Colonial Era. Maseno University Journal, 1 (1): 41-62
24. Letki, N. (2008). ‘‘Does Diversity Erode Social Cohesion? Social Capital and Race in British Neighborhoods.’’ Journal of Political Studies 56 (1):99-126.
25. Lynch (2006). Negotiating ethnicity: Identity politics in contemporary Kenya. Review of African Political Economy. 54 (33):49-70.
26. Miguel, (2004) “Tribe or Nation? Nation Building and Public Goods in Kenya versus Tanzania,” World Politics, 56 (3):327–362
27. Mutie, S. M., Mang’oka, A. S., Chemwei, B., & Kitonga, N. N. (2015). Jommo Kenyatta’s Speeches & the Construction of the Identities of a Nationalist Leader in Kenya. English Language and Literature Studies, 5(2): 57-72
28. Pettigrew T. & Tropp, l. (2006). A Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup Contact Theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90 (4):751-83.
29. Pettigrew T. (1998) Inter-group contact theory. Annual Review of psychology 49:65-85. https://doi.org.1146/annuerv.psych.49.1.65
30. Paolini S., Harwood J. & Rubin M. (2010) Negative Intergroup Contact Makes Group Memberships Salient: Explaining why intergroup conflict endures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 36(12):1723–1738. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210388667
31. Putnam, R. (2007). E pluribus Unum: Diversity and community in the twenty first century, the 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture. Scandinavian political studies, 30(2):137-174
32. Ochieng’, P. (2010) ‘History Will Drive Tribalists to Extinction’, The Sunday Nation, Available at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201007050062.html
33. Samuel O Owuor (2007) Migrants, urban poverty and the changing nature of urban–rural linkages in Kenya, Development Southern Africa, 24:1, 109-122, DOI: 10.1080/03768350601165926
34. Sijuwade, P. O. (2011). Ethnic Tolerance in Urban Nigeria: The Case of Lagos. http://doi.org/10.3923/sscience.2011.34.39
35. Suliman, Osman (2011). The Dafur conflict. Geography or Institutions? New York. Routledge
36. Themnér and Wallensteen (2014). “Armed Conflicts, 1946–2013.” Journal of Peace Research 51 (4): 541–54.
37. UNHCHR (2008) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008) Fact-finding Mission to Kenya.https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Press/OHCHRKenyareport
38. Uchendu, Egodi. (2007) “Recollections of Childhood Experiences during the Nigerian Civil War.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 77(3): 393-418
39. Uitermark, J., Rossi, U. and Van Houtum, H. (2005) ‘Reinventing Multiculturalism: Urban Citizenship and the Negotiation of Ethnic Diversity in Amsterdam’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 29(3): 622–640.
40. Wamwere (2003). Negative Ethnicity: From Bias to Genocide. New York. Seven Stories press.
41. Wanyande P. (2003). Reflections on the Kenyan Electoral System and Practices. Hekima Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(1):200-215
42. Wepundi, M. (2012). “Availability of Small Arms and Perceptions of Security in Kenya: An Assessment.” Geneva, Switzerland: Graduate Institute of International and Development
43. Wessel (2009) Does diversity in urban space enhance intergroup contact and tolerance? Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 91(1): 5-17. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0467.2009. 00303.x
Published
2023-11-05
How to Cite
Kyuvi, S., Nzioka, C., & Ayiemba, E. O. (2023). Ethnic Mixing and Tolerance in Urban Kenya: A Case Study of Mathare Informal Settelment in Nairobi City . European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 23, 104. Retrieved from https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/17404
Section
ESI Preprints
Copyright (c) 2023 Stellamaries Kyuvi, Charles Nzioka, Elias O. Ayiemba
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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