Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Power of the Oath: Mau Mau Nationalism in Kenya, 1952-1960

The Power of the Oath: Mau Mau Nationalism in Kenya, 1952-1960

Mwanzia Koster, Mickie

Hardcover

Series: Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora, Book 72

African HistoryAnthropologyGeneral Political Science

ISBN10: 1580465463
ISBN13: 9781580465465
Publisher: Univ Of Rochester Pr
Published: Jun 30 2016
Pages: 262
Weight: 1.23
Height: 0.75 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Opens a fresh conversation on the study of the Mau Mau rebellion and Kenyan history by arguing that Mau Mau was a nationalist movement rather than a Kikuyu war.

Through a critical examination of the Mau Mau oath used to initiate and unite fighters, The Power of the Oath opens a fresh conversation on the study of Mau Mau and Kenyan history. It argues for a historiographical shift inthe framing of the Mau Mau rebellion as a Kikuyu war. Instead, Mickie Mwanzia Koster suggests that Mau Mau was a nationalist movement, embraced by non-Kikuyu communities like the Kamba ethnic group. Incorporating a creative blendof primary sources, including testimonies from ex-Mau Mau participants, survey analysis, archival data, Mau Mau court cases, ceremonial reenactments, and folklore, The Power of the Oath demonstrates how and why the movement was spread, embraced, and internalized. Mwanzia Koster traces the evolution and structure of the Mau Mau oath, examining the British criminalization of the oath, its gendered use, and the purification associated with it, in order to reveal how Mau Mau unfolded in Kenya.

Mickie Mwanzia Koster is associate professor of history at the University of Texas, Tyler.

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