Politics of Decolonization
Kenya Europeans and the Land Issue 1960–1965

The book is of interest to scholars, students and others interested in decolonization.

Gary Wasserman (Author)

9780521100236, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 January 2009

240 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.36 kg

Decolonization in the Third World has most often been approached by tracing the ties of nationalist movements to the attainment of independence. This book attempts to revise the perspective. It presents a model of decolonization centring on the idea that the process was shaped by the reaction of colonial interests to the ascendancy of a nationalist elite. Rather than tracing the upward development of a nationalist movement, it traces the downward manipulation of that movement into a colonial system. The study concludes that instead of being a separating step to remove colonial influence, decolonization in more important respects ensured the continuity of the colonial political economy. The book is of interest to scholars, students and others interested in decolonization, white settles, East African affairs and land reform, as well as the general reader following current events in Africa.

Introduction: Kenya as a case study
1. Consensual decolonization: conditions, process and the salient aspects of the Kenyan case
2. Background to decolonization: trends and groups in the European community
3. 1960, initiating the bargain: the lobbying on the land issue and the dividing of the European community
4. 1961, negotiating the bargain: accelerating the bargaining, deepening the divisions
5. 1962, making the bargain: the resolution of the land issue and the dissolution of the European groups
6. 1960–1970, sealing the bargain: the implementation of the Kenya land transfer schemes
7. Conclusion: Europeans, land and decolonization
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: General & world history [HBG]