Belonging and recognition after the post-election violence: a case study on labour migrants in Naivasha, Kenya

Abstract

The 2013 general elections in Kenya entailed no recurrence of the 2007-08 post-election violence. Closer examination at the local level, though, indicates that the experiences of violence continue to influence the social sphere. Divisions between a long-established population and newcomers are blatant especially at places with high levels of immigration. This paper addresses how experiences of violent conflict over identitary and territorial belonging affect and transform sociospatial organisation. The analysis is based on an empirical study at one of the venues of the post-election violence, a poor and heterogeneous workers' settlement in Naivasha in Kenya's Rift Valley. Naivasha area is internationally known for its horticultural production and massive labour immigration. After the 2007 elections, radical individuals of the local Kikuyu ethnic majority claimed Naivasha as their territory as a reaction to the displacement of Kikuyus from other parts of the country. Migrants of unwanted ethnic identity or political positioning were murdered or forcibly evicted from the place. Yet, due to poor job opportunities, especially in western Kenya, job seekers continue to migrate to Naivasha. The repercussions of the violence are expressed in the lack of acceptance, on the part of the long-established population at the place, of the presence of labour migrants. Experiences of ethnicised prejudice, mistrust, and fear between the self-described autochthonous population and labour migrants are tenacious. Kikuyus perceive Naivasha as their place of refuge and are willing to defend it if necessary. Migrants barely develop feelings of belonging to Naivasha, seeking rather to enhance their own security during their stay at the place. This study illustrates that memories of the violence still regulate socio-spatial realities and reinforce and accelerate processes of spatial and societal division. Zusammenfassung: Nach dem Ende der postelektoralen Gewalt von 2007-08 befindet sich Kenia heute in einem friedlicheren Zustand. Auf lokaler Ebene wirken die Gewalterfahrungen jedoch nach und bewirken eine Spaltung des sozialen Gefüges. Besonders deutlich wird dies an Orten mit hohen Zahlen interner Migration, an denen die Brüche zwischen langansässiger Bevölkerung und Zugezogenen verlaufen. Dieses Paper gibt ein Beispiel dafür, wie Erfahrungen gewaltsamer Konflikte um identitäre und territoriale Zugehörigkeit sozialräumliche Organisation beeinflussen und transformieren. Die Analyse stützt sich auf eine empirische Studie an einem der Austragungsorte der Gewalt, einer ärmlichen und heterogenen Arbeitersiedlung in Naivasha in Kenias Rift Valley. Naivasha ist international bekannt für seine Gartenbauproduktion und die massiven Zahlen an Arbeitsmigration. Nach den Wahlen 2007 deklarierten radikale Individuen der lokalen ethnischen Mehrheit der Kikuyus Naivasha als ihr Gebiet, nachdem Kikuyus aus anderen Landesteilen vertrieben worden waren. Mi-grantinnen und Migranten mit unerwünschter ethnischer Identität oder politischer Positionierung wurd...

Making Noise

“…By assigning tribes a 'homeland' (Parsons, 2011), the colonial regime determined tribal boundaries and set the scene for an imagined autochthonous or 'native' sense of belonging (Lonsdale, 2008). In today's Kenya, national discourses continue to emphasise ethnic identity as inextricably linked to land and place, as a consequence of which people continue to imagine the ancestral homelands as home (Lang & Sakdapolrak, 2014). The trope of the rural home is inherently contradictory and contested.…”