The Role of Youth in Politics: The Social Praxis of Party Politics Among the Urban Lumpen in Kenya

Abstract

In multi-ethnic urban areas of Kenya, competition for political power by different political groups often degenerates into ethnic conflict. Different political factions gather support from the urban youth (especially the lumpen) and, in some instances, involve the youth in violent ethnic confrontations. The ethnic elite have transformed this urban lumpen and mobilised them for support and for eroding, through "privatised violence", the social bases of rival factions. Accordingly, the success of any faction in the competition for political power tend to depend on the extent to which the ethnic elite mobilise the youth against their rivals. This paper points out that multi-partyism has "re-ethnicised" rather than "detribalised" the urban lumpen and the youth in general. This is a disturbing phenomenon given that the youth have acted as agents of "social detribalisation". The discussion examines the contradictions between "re-ethnisation" and democratisation and concludes that the ethnic identities of the youth and the urban lumpen have not prevented them from participating in directing political change. The paper also examines the social basis of political activism processes among the youth and their changing identities as influenced by ethnicity and other factors. The paper is based on a qualitative survey carried out in Nairobi regarding the second multi-party electoral politics and elections held in December 1997.