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KAREN STRINGER FINAL DRAFT.pdf (824.17 KB)

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"A Household Divided": A Fragmented Religious Identity, Resistance and the Mungiki movement among the Kikuyu in Post-colonial Kenya

Stringer, Karen Wanjiru
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1395764314

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
Through the study of the Mungiki movement among the Kikuyu of Kenya, this dissertation examines how post-colonial Africans continue to use their cultural backgrounds to negotiate and re-center themselves in a changing world. Underlying this project is the assumption that if enslaved Africans in the New World could draw upon their cultural backgrounds despite the forcible removal from their cultural roots, they would do the same while on the continent. I argue that reactions to post-colonial socio-economic challenges can be better understood by exploring how Africans have used their specific cultural symbols, specifically religious concepts, to cope with the transformations within their societies as a result of their encounter with colonialism and globalization. A major point of cultural contact between many African communities and Europeans was the Christian Missions. The Kikuyu were no different. Having come into the closest and the longest contact with Christian missionaries compared to other ethnic groups in Kenya, Christianity became a significant part of Kikuyu identity. Nonetheless, rather than being a uniting force, this study points to the divisive effect of Christianity on the Kikuyu, which has become especially evident during times of intense socio-economic turmoil. Because pre-colonial Kikuyu society was significantly gerontocratic, there were inevitable latent tensions within the society that were magnified with the arrival of Christian missionaries in the late 19th century. The Kikuyus conversion to Christianity marked the beginning of a process of intense religious divisions that became a significant part of Kikuyu identity. This was due to two main factors: First, Christianity signified the possibility of an alternative source of power for the disenfranchised within the society. As such, the lower strata of the Kikuyu society made up the bulk of the first converts into Christianity. Secondly, the fluid and open nature of Kikuyu cultural worldview and the central role of the Kikuyu themselves in the religious inventions accompanying the conversion, led to the emergence of multiple and often-competing Christian ideas within the Kikuyu society. The second impact would be the most lasting of the two. The emerging identity, fragmented along doctrinal and socio-economic lines would become part and parcel of the Kikuyu society and would shape their political action across time. Drawing on my field research on the Mungiki movement, I demonstrate that this heritage of a fragmented religious identity has continued to make united political action among the Kikuyu difficult, as they face the challenges of the post-colonial world.
Ahmad Sikainga (Advisor)
Ousman Kobo (Committee Member)
Franco Barchiesi (Committee Member)
184 p.
African History; Religious History
Kikuyu Religious Identities; Mungiki; Arathi; Religious Movements in Kenya; Resistance in Post-colonial Kenya

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stringer, K. W. (2014). "A Household Divided": A Fragmented Religious Identity, Resistance and the Mungiki movement among the Kikuyu in Post-colonial Kenya [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1395764314

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stringer, Karen. "A Household Divided": A Fragmented Religious Identity, Resistance and the Mungiki movement among the Kikuyu in Post-colonial Kenya. 2014. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1395764314.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stringer, Karen. ""A Household Divided": A Fragmented Religious Identity, Resistance and the Mungiki movement among the Kikuyu in Post-colonial Kenya." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1395764314

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1395764314
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.