Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: January 15, 2021 at 2:32:55 PM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Africa]: Saeturn on Moskowitz, 'Seeing Like a > Citizen: Decolonization, Development, and the Making of Kenya, 1945-1980' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Kara Moskowitz. Seeing Like a Citizen: Decolonization, Development, > and the Making of Kenya, 1945-1980. New African Histories Series. > Athens Ohio University Press, 2019. Illustrations. 336 pp. $80.00 > (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8214-2395-0; $36.95 (paper), ISBN > 978-0-8214-2396-7. > > Reviewed by Muey C. Saeturn (University of California, Merced) > Published on H-Africa (January, 2021) > Commissioned by David D. Hurlbut > > "Kenya's postcolonial state was neither a monolithic nor a > monopolistic institution," writes Kara Moskowitz in _Seeing Like a > Citizen_ (p. 231). Indeed, throughout her well-researched and > impeccably written monograph, Moskowitz challenges the widely > accepted notion of the gatekeeper state by showing how a diverse set > of rural actors were able to contest, transform, and imagine what > development and citizenship constituted for themselves in early > independent Kenya. By focusing on the ways rural Kenyans were able to > shape the process of development during the 1960s and 1970s, the book > reveals the limitations of the newly independent nation-state and > widens the discussion about statecraft in modern Africa to include > the non-elite majority. _Seeing Like a Citizen _therefore offers > readers a more complex narrative of the history of development and > the nature of postcolonial citizenship in sub-Saharan Africa during > the mid-twentieth century--a period of great political, social, and > economic upheaval for the continent and the world. > > In seven chapters, _Seeing Like a Citizen_ shows how development > programs and political practices were often contested and remade in > local settings. More importantly, each chapter underscores the ways > rural Kenyans influenced the political, social, and economic > development of modern Africa. Chapters 1 through 3 focus on a > state-sponsored and internationally financed development initiative > known as the Million Acre Scheme, an ambitious resettlement program > that aimed to address Kenya's land problem by providing consolidated > and planned farm units to close to half a million Kenyans. The > creation of farming cooperatives and the impact they had on rural > Kenyans' construction of citizenship is the topic of chapter 4. The > contentious relationship between Kenyan citizen farmers and state > actors who disagreed over their respective obligations toward one > another was made more pronounced during the maize crises of 1964-66, > which is the focus of chapter 5. While still set in rural Kenya, > chapters 6 and 7 explore the _harambee_ (Swahili: pulling together) > movement and the building of a contested paper factory in the Turbo > region of Uasin Gishu District, respectively. Taken together, the > seven chapters reveal how the development programs of the > decolonization and early independence eras were transformed by rural > people who pushed back against an inadequate and inconsistent state > because they were determined to define for themselves what it meant > to be a citizen in postcolonial Kenya. > > Rather than a strict chronological order, the book is organized > around thematic case studies. The politics of land and agricultural > development are the two central themes throughout the book. This > emphasis makes sense given that land and farming both play an > important role in Kenya's political economy and underpin rural > politics and livelihoods. The first five chapters, for example, are > in-depth explorations into the land settlement programs and agrarian > initiatives of the decolonizing era, which development planners and > state actors hoped would eventually improve the material conditions > of the vast majority of new African citizens who resided mainly in > rural settings. In committing a large portion of the book to > analyzing these types of schemes, Moskowitz offers a richer account > of the developmentalist project as it unfolded in local settings and > affected the lives of average people who were both objects and agents > of developmental change. > > The non-elites profiled by Moskowitz reside mainly in what is > present-day Uasin Gishu County located in Kenya's western highlands. > Uasin Gishu historically has been home to a number of the country's > main ethnic communities, such as the Kalenjin, Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, > and Kisii. This diverse and rural setting is an ideal locality for > Moskowitz to focus her study as she is interested in how the > "pluralist identities of ordinary Kenyans" shaped the outcome of > development and citizenship making during the early independence era > (p. 14). Uasin Gishu's multiethnic makeup resulted from successive > migrations that began in the precolonial period and continued > throughout the postcolonial era. The successive migrations, as > Moskowtiz reveals throughout the body of the book, brought into the > region various groups of Africans and European settlers whose > competing identities and desire for land profoundly shaped how they > responded to and made sense of the development initiatives as Kenyan > citizens. > > Moreover, the significant attention Moskowitz devotes to exploring > the relationship between land and development shows her adherence to > foregrounding the experiences of many poor Kenyans in the > postcolonial era. Land scarcity was (and continues to be) a major > issue Kenyans faced at the eve of colonial independence. Land-hunger > and landlessness were especially acute problems for a number of rural > western Kenyan residents, particularly for the women and squatters > with whom Moskowitz spoke and whose life histories she prominently > features throughout chapter 3. Although Kenya's land problem was not > unique at the time, the resettlement programs adopted by the late > colonial and subsequent Kenyatta administration as a means to address > the land-hunger and landlessness endured by the majority of the > population were the first of its kind. In three detailed chapters, > Moskowitz elucidates the convoluted history of Kenya's ambitious > resettlement program and makes plain how the land development program > of this era, which was envisioned mainly by international agents and > carried out by local authorities, produced inequalities that continue > to threaten contemporary Kenyan society. Moskowitz's book is > therefore a must read for individuals interested in a thorough > discussion of the impact that land reform initiatives have had on > ordinary citizens, particularly those in the early postcolonial > world. > > The book's notes and bibliography reflect the work of a meticulous > historian: a scholar who is keen on making legible to her readers the > bureaucracy of statecraft and the intricacies of the decolonizing > development programs as they were conceived by policymakers in places > like Nairobi, Washington DC, and Geneva. Moskowitz's rich oral > histories, conducted with 111 Kenyans at eight rural sites, however, > are the heart of the book. They represent the commitment and > tremendous effort on the part of the author to bring to the fore the > experiences of a diverse set of rural actors whose actions, > expectations, networks, and political philosophies influenced > development projects at the local, national, and international > levels. > > Analyzing the lived experiences of ordinary Kenyans also allowed > Moskowitz a glimpse of the realities and challenges faced by the > majority of new citizens as they adjusted to the shifting political > scene and determined for themselves what it meant to live in a "free" > Kenya. Citizenship, in the context of early postcolonial Kenya, > according to Moskowitz, was fundamentally "a product of compromise" > made between state actors, international developmentalists, and the > people, especially individuals residing in rural spaces (p. 233). The > book, in other words, provides a more intimate and complicated > portrayal of the construction and negotiations over citizenship (and > rights) taking place among the entire body politic within the newly > independent African nation-states throughout the early postcolonial > era. Accordingly, it builds on the existing literature on citizenship > and decolonization that has yet to pay much attention to the fact > that individuals who were far removed from the centers of politics > and power were very much invested in defining their new political > identities and, by extension, to protecting their rights and claims > to resources. _Seeing Like a Citizen _is therefore a powerful > contribution to the discussion on decolonization and development in > the early postcolonial world. It will be of interest to any scholar > interested in deepening their knowledge of development, statecraft, > and citizenship. > > Citation: Muey C. Saeturn. Review of Moskowitz, Kara, _Seeing Like a > Citizen: Decolonization, Development, and the Making of Kenya, > 1945-1980_. H-Africa, H-Net Reviews. January, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55711 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#5584): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/5584 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/79714866/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
