Lotte Hughes | The Open University (original) (raw)

Books by Lotte Hughes

I have deposited typed-up transcripts of all the interviews I did, largely with Maasai elders in ... more I have deposited typed-up transcripts of all the interviews I did, largely with Maasai elders in Kenya, for my University of Oxford DPhil. I gathered these between 1997 and 2000. But strange as it sounds, I didn't have time until now to type them all up. I only typed up those I needed in order to write my dissertation and 2006 book, both of which have the same title: Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure (Palgrave Macmillan/ Springer). I also plan to deposit a few interviews carried out with European informants, but that task is not yet finished. All the transcripts are in English. I have already deposited recordings of the interviews, all but two in the Maa language, on CD in the library at Nairobi National Museum. I hope that other scholars and students are able to make use of this rich archive. It is called 'Interviews with Maasai elders and others concerning the forced removals of the Maasai'. The accession number is CMD IE 15897. The material will be made available on read-only terminals in the Weston Library reading rooms. The archive is not yet open to the public. I will let you know when it is.

These describe a new archive of transcripts of interviews carried out largely with Maasai elders ... more These describe a new archive of transcripts of interviews carried out largely with Maasai elders in Kenya between 1997 and 2000.

The history of the Maasai moves, land alienation and resistance in colonial British East Africa (... more The history of the Maasai moves, land alienation and resistance in colonial British East Africa (later Kenya). In 1904, in order to make way for white settlers in the Rift Valley, some sections of the Maasai were forcibly moved into two reserves, robbing them of the best part of their land. Seven years later the 'northern' Maasai were moved again, into what is now western Narok County. in 1913 some Maasai took the British to their own courts in an attempt to challenge this injustice. They lost, but this was a landmark legal action for its time. This book interweaves unique oral testimony from Maasai elders with material from secondary sources and archives to tell a story of land alienation, resistance and loss, which have repercussions to the present day.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

Managing Heritage, Making Peace: History, identity and memory in contemporary Kenya, 2014

Focusing on the 1990s to the present day, this book is a timely exploration of the many ways in w... more Focusing on the 1990s to the present day, this book is a timely exploration of the many ways in which Kenyans are engaging with the past in the present, including unique local initiatives such as the community peace museums movement, the 'Story of Kenya' history.exhibition at Nairobi National Museum, local and national monuments and other commemorative initiatives. The authors argue that Kenya faces a continuing crisis over nationhood, heritage, memory and identity, which must be resolved if it is to achieve social cohesion and peace.

Kenya stands at a crossroads in its history and heritage, as the nation celebrates its fiftieth anniversary of independence from Britain in 2013. What parts of its history do citizens and state wish to remember and commemorate? How is the past understood? What is best forgotten or occluded? What does heritage mean to ordinary Kenyans, and what role does it play in building nationhood and forging peace and reconciliation? At this important juncture, memories and histories are being fiercely contested in a post-conflict society that remains scarred by the legacy of the Mau Mau uprising, decades of dictatorial rule, and the recent post-election violence.

This book draws on groundbreaking field and archival research.

Chapters are:
Introduction. Annie E. Coombes and Lotte Hughes.
1 - Karega-Munene. Origins and Development of Institutionalised Heritage Management in Kenya.
2 - Annie E. Coombes. Object Lessons: Learning from the Lari Massacre(s).
3 - Lotte Hughes. Sacred Spaces, Political Places: The Struggle for a Sacred Forest.
4 - Annie E. Coombes. Monuments and Memories: Public Commemorative Strategies in Contemporary Kenya.
5 - Lotte Hughes. The Production and Transmission of National History: Some Problems and Challenges.
Conclusion. Lotte Hughes and Annie E. Coombes.

See Download for a review by Terry Barringer for African Documentation and Research No. 123 (2014)

The No-Nonsense Guide to Indigenous Peoples, 2003

This was a small non-academic book, in the New Internationalist (NI) series 'The No Nonsense Guid... more This was a small non-academic book, in the New Internationalist (NI) series 'The No Nonsense Guides' to a wide range of topical subjects and issues. It gives an overview of the situation of indigenous peoples, both at the present time and historically. It describes the challenges they face worldwide, together with an account of the various international protocols pertaining to indigenous rights (which have changed since this was written). It describes historical and present-day resistance worldwide. It includes the voices and contributions of indigenous people from several countries and ethnic communities.

It was revised later, and reissued as an e-book. The original author had little or nothing to do with the revised editions, they were revised by in-house editors at NI. .

This booklet was written when the author was employed as a journalist and editor at the internati... more This booklet was written when the author was employed as a journalist and editor at the international children's rights NGO Save the Children UK. An extensively revised and updated edition, it drew upon the author's international experience of interviewing children and young people in the course of that employment. The guide gives practical tips to help journalists, researchers, or anyone planning to interview children (defined as under 18s), make a better job of gathering information from children and making their voices heard. It was accompanied by a tape, in which children share their ideas about being interviewed.

Papers by Lotte Hughes

This Special Issue of African Studies came out of collaborative research carried out in Kenya sin... more This Special Issue of African Studies came out of collaborative research carried out in Kenya since October 2008 by Lotte Hughes, Annie Coombes and KaregaMunene for the project ‘Managing Heritage, Building Peace: Museums, Memorialisation and the uses of Memory in Kenya’. The research was already planned, and a pilot phase underway, long before the post-electoral violence of 2007/08, which tore Kenya apart. In intellectual terms, however, the electoral debacle served to sharpen our focus, and underscored the relevance of our study. Although the crisis was ostensibly constitutional and political, following contested election results in December 2007, our research confirmed that it was also more fundamentally a crisis of nationhood that will take a long time to resolve. As Kenya limbers up for the next elections in 2012, without the perpetrators of the 2007/08 violence having been brought to justice, the hate speech of so-called negative tribalism (despite having been banned) continues to employ distorted versions of heritage, history and memory. It was this ‘entanglement’ (Thomas 1991; Mbembe 2001) between a colonial past, which had redrawn territories and opportunistically manipulated ethnic affiliations, and a present, which equally opportunistically uses ethnicised boundaries and politics, that fascinated us. We recognised that understanding how the legacy of this colonial past re-emerged in the present was central to our investigation.

<p>Science and technology helped to shape resource frontiers in the Empire and conquer envi... more <p>Science and technology helped to shape resource frontiers in the Empire and conquer environments. They also framed new understandings of environmental change and conservationist policies. In a different way, visual representations conjured the Empire for British people and permeated their view of it. They were an inescapable element in the imagining of imperial nature. The growing range of images, we will argue, similarly had potential for encouraging possession, exploitation, and conservation of natural resources. In 1926, an Empire Marketing Board was established in Britain to promote the consumption of food and products from the colonies and dominions. In its short life till 1933, it produced some of the most striking pictorial representations of empire in the shape of over 700 posters. These were carefully commissioned with explicit instructions to some of the leading designers and poster artists in the country. Many captured the central themes that we have tried to illustrate: they depicted commodities, such as South African fruit, Australian wool, Ghanaian cocoa, or Malaysian pineapples, against a background of vivid landscapes, and sometimes the people who worked to turn nature into commodities. They promoted a positive image of an interdependent empire, in which exotic and beautiful environments, partly tamed, gave forth their riches for the British consumer. In this chapter, we try to describe some of the images transmitted about the landscape and environment of empire, especially in the century from about 1850.While our major focus is on British-based representations, some reference is made to artistic work elsewhere that fed into the imperial visual store. Visual material such as Marketing Board posters familiarized British audiences with far-flung conquered zones, and naturalized their exploitation. However, these images were only one style of representation; there were many others and it is important to capture some of the complexity and variety of visual imaginations, developed in many different media. Images could transcend their intended purpose, and, as in the case of approaches to nature itself, there were conflicting and contending voices. Jostling alongside images that celebrated exploitation were others that championed nature or portrayed it sympathetically. Because of the power of visual media, it is arguable that these had a particular influence on environmental thinking.</p>

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2015

This article argues that the broadening over time of definitions of heritage has had strong impli... more This article argues that the broadening over time of definitions of heritage has had strong implications for researchers working in East Africa today. Moving away from material preservationist issues of concern to governments and international heritage bodies, most scholars have recently focused their research on the entanglement of heritage with memory, politics, identity, and social healing processes. They also increasingly investigate the growing agency and centrality of civil society stakeholders, as well as the negotiation of power and authority between the different levelslocal, national, internationalinvolved in heritage making and heritage promotion. Focusing on the case of slavery and the slave trade, the rise of civil society engagement, and the contestations that continue to swirl around the commemoration of liberation heroes, the article depicts how heritage and memory have become a site of strugglesymbolically, ethically and emotionally charged-in today's East Africa.

African Studies, 2018

Introduction to a Special Issue of African Studies (77/2) on cultural rights and constitutional c... more Introduction to a Special Issue of African Studies (77/2) on cultural rights and constitutional change, largely in Kenya. Co-authored with Mark Lamont. https://doi-org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/10.1080/00020184.2018.1452852 There is no abstract, but this is how the article begins: Culture, and its bedfellow cultural rights, are fast becoming ubiquitous global concepts and rallying cries in today's world. If the second half of the 20th century saw the ascendancy of universal human rights, as this century unfolds we are witnessing the relentless rise of cultural rights in law, policy, rhetoric and everyday practice. Some of the reasons for this flourishing (such as the concomitant explosion in identity politics, and a growing culture of entitlement will be discussed in this Special Issue, primarily with regard to Kenya, whose new (2010) constitutional cultural rights provisions provide a useful case study whose implications go way beyond that country.

LIAS Working Paper 1, University of Leicester, 2018

This paper emerged from a workshop on Alternative Rites of Passage (ARP) for scholars, students a... more This paper emerged from a workshop on Alternative Rites of Passage (ARP) for scholars, students and practitioners at the Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Leicester, in March 2018. ARP is an invented ritual that is part of campaigns aimed at ending FGM/C (female genital mutilation/cutting), especially in Kenya and other parts of East Africa. As stated above, for some reason the names of four other co-authors are not showing - Damaris Parsitau, Mark Lamont, Grace Wamue Ngare and Peter Nguura.

Conservation and Society, 2007

This article began life as an invited short response to an artlce by Mahesh Rangarajan and Ghazal... more This article began life as an invited short response to an artlce by Mahesh Rangarajan and Ghazala Shahabuddin in Conservation and Society in September 2006, which examined the issue of people's displacement from protected areas in India. The authors sought to synthesise biological and historical approaches, since views of the role of displacement "in conservation policy are sharply divided along disciplinary lines" and this - in short - is not helpful. My response becamse a full-length article in its own right.

Moving the Maasai, 2006

This paper discusses a subject raised in oral testimony that barely appears in any written form: ... more This paper discusses a subject raised in oral testimony that barely appears in any written form: an alleged blood brotherhood between representatives of the Maasai community and leading British settlers, in British East Africa in the 1900s. An excerpt from my DPhil dissertation, ...

Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2008

Exploitation of soda deposits by foreign companies at Lake Magadi, Kenya, is the focus of one of ... more Exploitation of soda deposits by foreign companies at Lake Magadi, Kenya, is the focus of one of many long-standing grievances in the Maasai community which stem from land and other natural resource alienation in the colonial era. A British company was allowed to mine ...

History Compass, 2008

In this article, we explore some of the images transmitted about the landscapes and environments ... more In this article, we explore some of the images transmitted about the landscapes and environments of the British empire, largely during the century after 1860. While our major focus is on British-based representations, some reference is made to artistic work elsewhere that fed into the imperial visual store. As a number of scholars have argued, some visual materials familiarized British audiences with far-flung conquered zones and naturalized their exploitation. However, these images were only one style of representation; there were many others and it is important to identify some of the complexity and variety of visual imaginations, developed in many different media. Settler and indigenous art and photography used images from nature to develop nationalist and indigenous reassertions. Images could transcend their intended purpose, and, as in the case of approaches to nature itself, there were contending voices. Jostling alongside images that celebrated exploitation and possession of colonized territories, there were others that championed nature or portrayed it sympathetically. Because of the power of visual media, these had a significant influence on conservationist thinking. used for selling Scotch whisky. It nicely sums up some of the core constituents of empire: conquest and military might, men in elaborate uniform, some on horseback, exotic animals and locations, royalty, and commodities. The troops are marching forward, a metaphorical statement about progress. His book was part of an argument against the view that the British were indifferent to imperialism. He wanted to explore the impact of empire on Britain and the creation of a British imperial worldview. While empire may have been fragmented, images such as this postcard attempted to put it all together, by 1924, with the king at the centre, juxtaposed by symbols Fig. 2. Reproduced in John M. MacKenzie, Propaganda and Empire (Manchester: Manchester

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

Managing Heritage, Making Peace: History, identity and memory in contemporary Kenya, 2014

This book draws on groundbreaking field and archival research.

See Download for a review by Terry Barringer for African Documentation and Research No. 123 (2014)

The No-Nonsense Guide to Indigenous Peoples, 2003

It was revised later, and reissued as an e-book. The original author had little or nothing to do with the revised editions, they were revised by in-house editors at NI. .

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2015

African Studies, 2018

LIAS Working Paper 1, University of Leicester, 2018

Conservation and Society, 2007

Moving the Maasai, 2006

Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2008

History Compass, 2008

The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of …, 2010

Despite a growing body of work on anti-colonialist movements and the activities of individual act... more Despite a growing body of work on anti-colonialist movements and the activities of individual activists, there remain large gaps in our knowledge of early agitation in and around Africa, and the links between people. A scholarly focus on transnational networking in the 1930s to ...

Conservation and Society, 2007

Journal of Eastern African Studies

This is a review of Moving the Maasai , 2006

This book was re-issued in paperback in 2016. This monograph is a shorter and revised version... more This book was re-issued in paperback in 2016.

This monograph is a shorter and revised version of my D.Phil. dissertation of the same title (University of Oxford, 2002). It examines Maasai-British relations in colonial British East Africa (later Kenya), land alienation, forced moves, the Masai Treaties (aka Agreements) and non-violent resistance - events which have repercussions to the present day. The author set out to seek Maasai oral testimony, and has interwoven this with information from archival and other secondary sources.

Reviewers say:

"This is an exceptional book. While the contours of the two Maasai moves in Kenya - 1904 and 1911 - have been traced in several colonial histories, this is the first work to use oral history, a remarkable achievement as a century has elapsed since the Maasai were shunted into reserves to make way for white settlers. The author ... has reworked her Oxford Ph.D. dissertation to deliver a lively, engaging and erudite account of this colonial tragedy."
Chris Youe
Conservation and Society"

See link to review by Dorothy L Hodgson in African Affairs
Sample chapter available for download

Environment and Empire, 2007

This study illustrates diverse environmental themes in the history of the British empire. It was ... more This study illustrates diverse environmental themes in the history of the British empire. It was commissioned by OUP for its Companion Series to the Oxford History of the British Empire. A paperback edition was published in spring 2009.

Review:
Charles Dawson, Environment and Nature in New Zealand 14 (2) Dec. 2009:
http://environmentalhistory-au-nz.org/2009/12/review/

Other reviewers say (dust jacket of paperback edition):

"This is an impressive book both for its sweep across continents and themes and equally so for its lucid and flowing prose. The authors have woven together a complex tapestry of the currents that linked ecological change to the fortunes of the British Empire. It also brings the story up to the present and will be indispensable for historians, ecologists and lay persons alike."
Mahesh Rangarajan, Prof. in Modern Indian History, University of Delhi

"Environment and Empire is remarkably clear, cogent and up to the minute. It is an essential work for those who want to become acquainted with the great recent developments in environmental history. But it is also invaluable for comparative historians of the British Empire."
Prof Terence Ranger, University of Oxford

Other citations include:

"Excellent"
Dr Timothy Cooper, University of Exeter
'British environmental history', Making History (online, undated)

Chapter titles:
1. Introduction
2. Environmental Aspects of the Atlantic Slave Trade and Caribbean Plantations
3. The Fur Trade in Canada
4. Hunting, Wildlife, and Imperialism in Southern Africa
5. Imperial Travellers
6. Sheep, Pastures, and Demography in Australia
7. Forests and Forestry in India
8. Water, Irrigation, and Agrarian Society in India and Egypt
9. Colonial Cities: Environment, Space, and Race
10. Plague and Urban Environments
11 Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis in East and Central Africa
12. Imperial Scientists, Ecology, and Conservation
13. Empire and the Visual Representation of Nature
14. Rubber and the Environment in Malaysia
15. Oil Extraction in the Middle East: The Kuwait Experience
16. Resistance to Colonial Conservation and Resource Management
17. National Parks and the Growth of Tourism
18. The Post-Imperial Urban Environment
19. Reassertion of Indigenous Environmental Rights and Knowledge

American Ethnologist, 2009

African Affairs, 2003

This is a timely and useful contribution to the literature and the political debate around conser... more This is a timely and useful contribution to the literature and the political debate around conservation ideology. Clare Short, British Secretary of State for Inter-national Development (whose department sponsored Brockington's research) said, on the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable ...

Africa, 2008

616 BOOK REVIEWS emphasizes the class-based nature of European hunting in colonial Kenya and uses... more 616 BOOK REVIEWS emphasizes the class-based nature of European hunting in colonial Kenya and uses class to help us understand how the great big-game safari tradition developed and then changed from guns to cameras as the main tool. In Part I we learn ...

African Affairs, 2005

Christine Nicholls's history of white settlement in 'Keen-ya' could not be more ti... more Christine Nicholls's history of white settlement in 'Keen-ya' could not be more timely. But can it redeem the image of this community? In part, this appears to be her aim. 'The antics of this wealthy and un-representative coterie, notorious for its licentious and irresponsible ...

American Ethnologist, 2009

Journal of Southern African Studies, 2014

This slim volume focuses on the often forgotten people who live ‘on the edge’, in every sense of ... more This slim volume focuses on the often forgotten people who live ‘on the edge’, in every sense of that phrase, of transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) in southern Africa. These areas, often refe...

Pastoralism, 2022

Book detailsMarie Ladekjær GravesenThe Contested Lands of Laikipia. Histories of Claims and Confl... more Book detailsMarie Ladekjær GravesenThe Contested Lands of Laikipia. Histories of Claims and Conflict in a Kenyan LandscapeBrill: Leiden and Boston, 2021ISSN 15668-1203. ISSN 978-90-04-43519-3 (paperback). ISBN 978-90-43520-9 (e-book). 263 pages

European Journal of Development Research, 2015

In 'Insufficient Funds … ' Hung Cam Thai presents a mesmerizing narrative of money and migration ... more In 'Insufficient Funds … ' Hung Cam Thai presents a mesmerizing narrative of money and migration among low-wage Vietnamese transnational families in the United States and their nonmigrant relatives in Vietnam. A search for 'the culture and personal meanings of giving, receiving and spending money' (p. 15) motivates Thai to delve into the complexities and paradoxes in monetary circulation in these transnational families. Through multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in both Vietnam and the United States, Thai is able to dig into the fabric of cultural expectations, self-worth and emotional economies embedding these monetary exchanges, which goes beyond Book Reviews

African Documentation and Research No. 123 (2014), Dec 2014

This is book about how history, memory and heritage matter, how they evolve, are made and manipul... more This is book about how history, memory and heritage matter, how they evolve, are made and manipulated and how they carry political charge. The case study is of Kenya and the authors argue:

Pastoralism: Research, policy and practicec, 2022

This is a book review, so it does not have an abstract.

Africa, 2015

No abstract, this is a book review.

No abstract, this is a book review

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

This is NOT an abstract but a covernote. This text may differ slightly from the published book. E... more This is NOT an abstract but a covernote. This text may differ slightly from the published book. Endnotes do not all correspond with those in the published book. Please fully credit the author and book if quoting from this or using it in any way in the public domain.

Book synopsis: Kenya stands at a crossroads in its history and heritage, as the nation celebrates... more Book synopsis: Kenya stands at a crossroads in its history and heritage, as the nation celebrates its fiftieth anniversary of independence from Britain in 2013. At this important juncture, what parts of its history, including the Mau Mau uprising, do citizens and state wish to remember and commemorate and what is best forgotten or occluded? What does heritage mean to ordinary Kenyans, and what role does it play in building nationhood and forging peace and reconciliation? Focusing on the 1990s to the present, "Managing Heritage, Making Peace" is a timely exploration of the ways in which Kenyans are engaging with the past in the present, including such local initiatives as the community peace museums movement, local and national monuments and other notable commemorative actions. The authors show how Kenya is facing a continuing crisis over nationhood, heritage, memory and identity, which must be resolved to achieve social cohesion and peace.

This was a commissioned response to a lecture given by Richard Leakey at the Sheldonian Theatre, ... more This was a commissioned response to a lecture given by Richard Leakey at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, in spring 2005, as part of the annual Oxford Amnesty Series of lectures which were that year focused on land rights. It questions some of his underlying assumptions, ...

Managing Heritage, Making Peace; History, Identity and Memory in Contemporary Kenya, 2014

This is Chapter 3 in the book Managing Heritage, Making Peace: History, Identity and Memory in Co... more This is Chapter 3 in the book Managing Heritage, Making Peace: History, Identity and Memory in Contemporary Africa, which I co-wrote with Annie E. Coombes and Karega-Munene. Originally published by I.B. Tauris, it is now published by Bloomsbury.

It describes over time the story of the struggle for Karima Forest near Nyeri, Othaya District, by activists, NGOs, and local people. This struggle can be described as involving heritage activities to save a sacred site. It describes in particular the activities of the late Kariuki Thuku of the NGO Porini, and those of his late father Paul Njembui Thuku.

8. Des copies des deux accords figurent en annexes 1 et 2 de Sandford (1919). L'original du premi... more 8. Des copies des deux accords figurent en annexes 1 et 2 de Sandford (1919). L'original du premier accord n'a jamais été retrouvé, mais le manuscrit original du second accord est conservé aux Archives nationales (NA) de Londres, sous la réf. DO118/383. 9. Ces événements et leurs répercussions font l'objet de ma thèse de doctorat (2002) et de mon livre (2006). 10. Leys (éd. 1925 : 78, 80). Le Dr Leys a embrassé la cause des Maasai et tenté de stopper le second déplacement, ce qui lui valu de perdre son travail de cadre médical du gouvernement ; voir Hugues (2002, 2006).

The chapter discusses the contested legacy of the Mau Mau conflict in Kenya in the 1950s, a strug... more The chapter discusses the contested legacy of the Mau Mau conflict in Kenya in the 1950s, a struggle which preceded independence, and the uses of memory and memorialisation of Mau Mau in contemporary Kenya. It discusses whether the memorialization of Mau Mau, and the idea that it is central to a metanarrative of nationhood, has the potential to be unifying. Also, whether this can usefully be harnessed in Mau Mau-focused heritage initiatives in modernday Kenya. It concludes in part that the 'Mau Mau story' is too exclusive for this purpose, since it ignores or excludes countless other Kenyans who were neither on one side or the other during the conflict, or were ostensibly on the opposite side.

Managing Heritage, Making Peace

Drawing on Maasai oral testimony as well as archival sources, this chapter discusses the environm... more Drawing on Maasai oral testimony as well as archival sources, this chapter discusses the environmental impacts of the forced moves of Maasai in British East Africa in the 1900s, by the British colonial government, in particular the increased incidence of the fatal cattle disease ECF. It argues ...

This chapter examines some key developments around culture and pluralism since the passing of the... more This chapter examines some key developments around culture and pluralism since the passing of the new constitution in 2010, drawing on new research findings. It starts by placing the subject in international context, including the ways in which cultural rights have become more visible in human rights protocols. It describes how culture and cultural rights feature in the 2010 constitution, and tension around these concepts which became sharply apparent during the constitutional review process. The subsequent rise and rise of culture (or ‘notions’ of culture) have become particularly apparent in devolved counties; for example, in the use by county governments of culture in tourism promotion, marketization of resources, and branding; in the proliferation of cultural festivals and other types of cultural performance across Kenya; and more broadly in the use of culture as a political propaganda tool, especially during the 2017 election campaigns. Cultural heritage is also emerging as a n...

AbstractsCurrent struggles for power, land and resources in Kenyan Maasailand can only be underst... more AbstractsCurrent struggles for power, land and resources in Kenyan Maasailand can only be understood in a100-year context, by returning to the forced moves and land losses of the 1900s and closely examiningsubsequent complaints about their alleged illegality and long-term impacts. This has not beenattempted before, although some scholars and many Maasai have attributed growing impoverishment,marginalisation and acute pressure upon land and people to a process of land alienation begun by theBritish in 1904.The Maasai-British relationship always turned upon notions of honour, mutual respect and moralobligation; for some Maasai at least, these still have meaning. In 2004, the hundredth anniversary ofthe first Maasai Agreement and forced move was marked by activists with calls – directed at both theKenyan and British governments – for compensation and the return of alienated land. This reparationsclaim is ongoing. Drawing upon archival research and oral testimony, this paper explains wh...

Negotiating Cultural Rights

About the Book At a time when states, armed insurgent movements, and ethnic and nationalist polit... more About the Book At a time when states, armed insurgent movements, and ethnic and nationalist political parties make claims based on the defence of communal interests and political and religious ideologies -- with often deadly consequences -- it is important to understand the discourses and actions that are used to legitimize these claims. This book argues that competing moral economies -- the beliefs and practices that normatively regulate and legitimize the distribution of wealth, power, and status in a society -- play an important role in ethnic and nationalist conflict. Bringing together international experts on the politics of ethnicity and nationalism, this final volume in the prestigious EDG series investigates how moral economies have been challenged in identity-based communities in ways that precipitate or exacerbate conflicts. The combination of theoretical chapters and case studies ranging from Africa and Asia to North America provides compelling evidence for the value of m...

The overall findings are given first, followed by key findings from individual case studies carri... more The overall findings are given first, followed by key findings from individual case studies carried out by team members.

The Elephant, 2022

This non-academic story examines the BBI (Building Bridges Initiative) in Kenya, and Maasai hopes... more This non-academic story examines the BBI (Building Bridges Initiative) in Kenya, and Maasai hopes that it would address historical injustices.

The Elephant, 2022

A discussion of the pros and cons of Alternative Rites of Passage, touted by NGOs as an alternati... more A discussion of the pros and cons of Alternative Rites of Passage, touted by NGOs as an alternative to FGM/C without the physical cut. Based on academic research in Kenya.

The Elephant, 2022

A discussion of the verdict and wider implications of the Colston Four case, Bristol, UK.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2002

This describes the fight between British forces and Maasai warriors at Ololulunga, now in Narok D... more This describes the fight between British forces and Maasai warriors at Ololulunga, now in Narok District, in 1918, and the likely causes of it. This is taken from my University of Oxford DPhil. dissertation (2002), but was not included in the published book for length reasons. The chapter number refers to the dissertation, not the book. It is being published here for the first time, as part of the series of book chapters.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

This final pre-published version of my book chapter discusses the repercussions of events, resist... more This final pre-published version of my book chapter discusses the repercussions of events, resistance and power, blood brothers and the reversed exodus of Maasai, and the legal situation today. (That is, at the time of writing, the situation has since changed).

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

This chapter from my book Moving the Maasai explores the relationships between Maasai and settler... more This chapter from my book Moving the Maasai explores the relationships between Maasai and settlers on settler farms in the early 20th century. Some Maasai avoided or reversed the second forced move from Laikipia by returning north to work as herders on these farms.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

This chapter, a pre-published version of Chapter 6 in my 2006 book, discusses blood brotherhood i... more This chapter, a pre-published version of Chapter 6 in my 2006 book, discusses blood brotherhood in the literature, its role in colonial treaty making, and its meaning and significance in relation to the alleged blood brotherhood oath made between Maasai leaders and white settlers in British East Africa.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2002

This paper (Chapter 6 of my 2002 DPhil. dissertation) describes the fight between British forces ... more This paper (Chapter 6 of my 2002 DPhil. dissertation) describes the fight between British forces and Maasai warriors at Ololulunga, now in Narok County, in 1918, and the background to this event. The chapter number refers to the dissertation, not the book. It was not included in the published chapter for space reasons. I am publishing it here for the first time.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

This chapter describes the ecological and environmental impacts of the forced move from Laikipia ... more This chapter describes the ecological and environmental impacts of the forced move from Laikipia to the Southern Masai Reserve. It discusses among other things the many challenges faced by the incomers, stock disease, veterinary support, human sickness, and studies of ticks.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

This chapter, a pre-published version, describes the 1913 Masai Case in the High Court of British... more This chapter, a pre-published version, describes the 1913 Masai Case in the High Court of British East Africa. This involved a group of Maasai who challenged the legality of the second forced move from Laikipia to the Southern Reserve, and the abrogation of the 1904 Masai Agreement.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

This is a pre-published and slightly revised version of Chapter 3 of my book Moving the Maasai. I... more This is a pre-published and slightly revised version of Chapter 3 of my book Moving the Maasai. It examines different accounts of the forced second move of Maasai from Laikipia to the Southern Masai Reserve after 1911. It also discusses the build-up to the Masai Case 1913, in which a group of Maasai challenged the legality of the move and 1911 Agreement.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

Chapter 2 of the book named below. This pre-publication version may differ slightly from the publ... more Chapter 2 of the book named below. This pre-publication version may differ slightly from the published text. Endnotes also differ slightly. Please give the full citation if quoting from or sharing any part of this text in the public domain.

![Research paper thumbnail of Chapter`1 - Introduction](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/111688836/thumbnails/1.jpg)

M,oving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006

This chapter will explore in more depth the real and symbolic nature of relationships between lea... more This chapter will explore in more depth the real and symbolic nature of relationships between leading settlers and Maasai. Little serious research has been done on the personal interactions between settlers and Africans in Kenya, let alone those specific to the Maasai. There is of course a genre of sentimental settler diaries and memoirs that talk fondly of relationships with domestic servants; they could be called the ‘my faithful boy’ genre. At the other extreme, scholars have made sweeping remarks about the innate brutality of relationships between employers and workers. My evidence, drawing heavily on Maasai and settler oral testimony, suggests relationships of greater complexity and nuance than have been previously acknowledged. The alleged blood-brotherhood pact may help to explain this. In exploring these relationships, one also finds more evidence of Maasai involvement in the labour market post-1913 than other studies have acknowledged, evidence that substantial numbers returned to the highlands from the Southern Reserve after the second move, and intriguing reports of criminal collusion between settlers and their favourite henchmen against the colonial state.

Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure, 2006