Author: Jean Davison

ISBN: 0-9785150-0-5

Development, economic and social change, is moving very rapidly around the world. Within the space of a generation, the remote rural areas of Kenya have become linked to the global coffee and tea markets, as well as such modern amenities as the internet and MTV. Any form of change will benefit some and disadvantage others; it is the heart of the capitalist system that the concept of creative destruction will bring wealth to some and woe to others. Often, it is the weak who receive the woe and the strong the wealth, which is why there needs to be careful monitoring of the impact of change and consideration of when some people need assistance. The modern world, including all the many changes and effects that have come to be known as globalization, brings particular benefits to women, through better healthcare, improved education possibilities and more opportunities to earn money while remaining at home or at least in the local area. What has been the impact of these changes on the women of rural Kenya? This is the subject matter of Jean Davison’s enlightening and useful book, which reports on fieldwork in the highlands of Kenya north of the capital Nairobi, and which builds upon previous work in the region that she has conducted over the past decades.

So how have things changed? First of all, the pace of change is amazingly rapid and the extent of it is very pervasive. Mobile telephones now keep people in touch with each other in even the most remote areas and this means that children no longer have the age-old role of running errands up and down the hilly ground. This is good for the children, of course, although it will probably mean a decline in the number of world-class cross-country athletes produced by Kenya at some stage in the future. The linking of local production to global markets has also brought change: the collapse of world coffee prices at the turn of the century has meant that the Kenyan coffee farmers have lost nearly all of the income to the extent that many have abandoned their plants altogether and are growing tea or other cash crops instead. One issue that Davison does struggle to find information about is the spread and importance of HIV/AIDS in society. It is known that the macho nature of much of African society condemns women to second-class status and this includes vulnerability to the virus. There are some suggestions that young women are sexually active before marriage – this is traditional Gikuyu behaviour, since a man would not consider marrying a woman who had not proved shoe could give him children – and that state-sponsored family planning methods are becoming prevalent and successful. It is unfortunate that many women are subjected to abstinence-first policies and so are at terrible risk of unwanted pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases. It will be important for subsequent American administrations to reverse the disgraceful linking of overseas aid and damaging religious dogma.

Other areas of change include the general abandonment of the irua rites: this coming-of-age ceremony marking the passing of girls into adulthood is accompanied by female circumcision. The exact ways in which this takes place varies – in some places it involves complete surgical cutting of the clitoris and more, while in others it just necessitates partial excision or cutting. The practice was outlawed by the government in the 1980s but has survived into the twenty-first century because of the determination of some and religious conservatives to hold on to the past and because of the fear held by many of the young women themselves that they will be unable to find husbands if they are not true to their tribal traditions. Thankfully, very few parts of the country now insist on the practice and they are declining.

This is a splendidly readable book which occupies just over 200 pages and so should provide a very useful introduction to anyone wishing to discover more about Kenyan society and about the ins and outs of conducting anthropological fieldwork of this sort. I could wish that she did not assume that the audience must be exclusively American but she is hardly unique in this.

The above review was contributed by: John Walsh PhD:  Professor at Shinawatra International University CLICK TO VIEW  John Walsh's Reviews