Kenya's past as prologue : voters, violence, and the 2013 general election / edited by Christian Thibon [and three others].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thibon, Christian, Editor.

Contributor:

Thibon, Christian, editor.

Institut français de recherche en Afrique.

Series:

Africae Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Citizens Against Violence (Kenya).

Elections--Kenya.

Elections.

Elections--Corrupt practices--Kenya--Nairobi.

Political violence--Kenya--Nairobi.

Political violence.

Nairobi (Kenya)--Politics and government.

Nairobi (Kenya).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (267 p.)

Place of Publication:

Nairobi Africae 2014

Nairobi, Kenya : Twaweza Communications, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

During the run-up to Kenya’s 2013 general elections, crucial political and civic questions were raised. Could past mistakes, especially political and ethnic-related violence, be avoided this time round? Would the spectre of the 2007 post-electoral violence positively or negatively affect debates and voting? How would politicians, electoral bodies such as the IEBC, the Kenyan civil society, and the international community weigh in on the elections? More generally, would the 2013 elections bear witness to the building up of an electoral culture in Kenya, characterized by free and fair elections, or would it show that voting is still weakened by political malpractices, partisan opinions and emotional reactions? Would Kenya’s past be inescapable or would it prepare the scene for a new political order? Kenya’s Past as Prologue adopts a multidisciplinary perspective - mainly built upon field-based ethnography and a selection of case studies - to answer these questions. Under the leadership of the French Institute for Research in Africa (Institut français de recherche en Afrique, IFRA), political scientists, historians and anthropologists explore various aspects of the electoral process to contribute in-depth analyses of the last elections. They highlight the structural factors underlying election and voting in Kenya including the political system, culture and political transition. They also interrogate the short-term trends and issues that influence the new political order. The book provides insight into specific case studies, situations and contexts, thus bringing nuances and diversity into focus to better assess Kenya’s evolving electoral democracy.

Contents:

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgment

Introduction. Kenya's 2013 General Election: A National Event Set Between "The Inescapable" and "The Unforeseeable"

Against electoral doom-mongering

Navigating the inescapable and the unforeseeable

Exploring the particular to reach the general

The scope and limits of democratisation

Notes

Bibliography

Kenyan Elections: When Does History Repeat Itself and Does Not Repeat Itself?

History does not repeat itself: Peaceful elections

In contrast, history stutters

Unknown post-election issues

Kenyan Elections: The ICC, God and the 2013 Kenyan General Elections

Impunity of elites and ethnicisation

The ICC and the pentecostalisation of the political life

An impossible transitional justice?

Towards a postcolonial diplomacy?

Conclusion

The 4 March 2013 General Elections in Kenya: From Latent Tension to Contained Violence

Introduction

The shambolic candidate selection process

An apparently calm campaign

Voting outcomes cause localized violence

Getting it "Wrong" (Again)? Wahojiwa vs. Wapiga Kura in the 2013 Kenyan Election

2013 Election background: Competitive uncertainty and the "Certitude of Surveys"

Crunching " or "massaging" " the numbers?: The Pollsters vs. the IEBC

The post-election poll debate: Proof or posture?

Conclusion: Pollsters- past, pollsters- future?

Political Integration of Minority Communities: The Ogiek of Eastern Mau Forest in the 2013 Elections

The Ogiek: Apolitically marginalised indigenous community

A sense of belonging? Following the lead of the wider Kalenjin community

Political participation in the 2013 general elections

Beyond ethnic arithmetic: Alternative explanations for electoral choices

Alternative patterns of explanation

Acknowledgements

Bishop Margaret Wanjiru and the 2013 Kenyan Elections: Between Politics of the Spirit and Expanding Entrepreneurship

Pentecostalism and politics: identifying two strands

Bishop Wanjiru and the 2013 elections

Strand A: "When the righteous are in authority" " but who are the righteous?

Strand B: "BMW": Wanjiru as an entrepreneur

Role of Election Observers: Diplomatic Bias and the Findings of The Kenyan 2013 Election

KHRC: Election monitoring by human rights networks

AGLI and FCPT: Grassroots election observers

ELOG, civil society observers: Election watchman or watchman of peace?

ELOG and other reports: The question of rejected votes.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters.

OpenEdition Books License https://www.openedition.org/12554

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9782957305834

2957305836

9789966028525

9966028528

OCLC:

916952444