Book contents
- Searching for a New Kenya
- Searching for a New Kenya
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Note on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Part I Rethinking Publics from Kenya
- Part II Characterising Publics
- Part III Situating Publics in Time and Space
- 5 Our Turn to Starve
- 6 Publics and the Contested State of Land in Kenya
- 7 The Obfuscation of Spatial Constraints on Facebook
- Part IV The Power of Publics
- Appendix List of Interviewees
- References
- Index
6 - Publics and the Contested State of Land in Kenya
from Part III - Situating Publics in Time and Space
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 May 2021
- Searching for a New Kenya
- Searching for a New Kenya
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Note on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Part I Rethinking Publics from Kenya
- Part II Characterising Publics
- Part III Situating Publics in Time and Space
- 5 Our Turn to Starve
- 6 Publics and the Contested State of Land in Kenya
- 7 The Obfuscation of Spatial Constraints on Facebook
- Part IV The Power of Publics
- Appendix List of Interviewees
- References
- Index
Summary
Chapter 6 interrogates how controversies over land affected the convening of public discussion on the ground in Mombasa in the 2010s. Land conflicts are longstanding in Kenya, with particular tensions on the Coast. They have been a central tenet in narratives of historical injustice, and have been instrumentalised by political elite for electoral gain. Kenya’s 2010 Constitution brought new conditions, actors and ambiguities into debates over land and citizen–state relations. Ambiguities over land had very real and distinct effects on Mombasa’s street parliaments. None of the gatherings observed occupied a clearly recognised and uncontested ‘public’ space, and none were without the threat of eviction. This chapter argues that ambiguity over the gatherings’ legal right to occupy space in the city could protect the street parliaments from state control. Their spontaneous and informal nature helped them to adapt to dynamic contentions over land.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Searching for a New KenyaPolitics and Social Media on the Streets of Mombasa, pp. 125 - 140Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021