Explanations of the Mau Mau revolt, Kenya 1952-1956
Date
1983-08
Authors
Lonsdale, John
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Abstract
My intention is to suggest an outline of an historical process,
specific to the Kikuyu people of Kenya but which is intelligible within
the general rubrics of colonial nationalism and peasant revolt. The
process is important, but only as a field for the operation of human
intention and the organisation of power. … In the 1940s, and as a direct result of the Second War, Kenya was the scene of rising conflict. …
The outbreak of the revolt is a controversial matter. Earlier
accounts stressed the British declaration of Emergency in October
1952, a pre-emptive strike against the forces of revolution which in
fact galvanised them into action once the moderates had been incarcerated.
This viewpoint stresses the inchoate nature of 'Mau Mau' prior to that date - if indeed it can be said to have existed at all. More recent work suggests that the Emergency did not so much bring the movement into being as consolidate it about a nerve centre in Nairobi, which supplied the strong arm in the forests. Prior to that date one has to envisage three ' starting-points'… There are many explanations. I make brief mention of eight. Each makes assumptions about the colonial situation, the nature of Kikuyu society and the quality and ambitions of its leadership.
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented August 1983
Keywords
Mau Mau, Nationalism. Kenya