An Uncertain Age: The Politics of Manhood in Kenya

by Paul Ocobock

Overview

In twentieth-century Kenya, age and gender were powerful cultural and political forces that animated household and generational relationships. They also shaped East Africans’ contact with and influence on emergent colonial and global ideas about age and masculinity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821422632
Publisher:	Ohio University Press
Publication date:	03/27/2017
Series:	New African Histories
Edition description:	1
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Paul Ocobock is an assistant professor of history at the University of Notre Dame.

Editorial Reviews

"Compellingly elucidates that Kenya as a colony was no seamless well-oiled machine, but rather a 'crowded, cacophonous place' of religious leaders, judges, wardens, and other authorities who all had frequently competing visions about how to shape age and manhood."--African Studies Review

"With a sure command of the literature, Ocobock argues for the increased importance of gender and generation for historical research....The core of the book, based on archival material and in-depth interviews, contrasts the colonial era 'elder state' to the contemporary postcolonial situation. Although these chapters are informative and detailed, the introductory chapter alone is worth the price of admission'...Summing up: Highly recommended."--Choice

"In Ocobock's work, intriguing tales about male initiation and other coming-of-age practices show how African youth and elders struggled with colonial officials, missionaries, settlers, and nationalist leaders over the meanings of manhood. His nuanced analysis enriches and expands the history of masculinities."--Stephan F. Miescher, author of Making Men in Ghana

"In demonstrating the centrality of concerns over age and gender, Ocobock offers a brilliant means of reconceiving Kenyan history beyond the more usual focus on ethnicity. Linking the processes of growing up and state making, he deftly shows how gendered notions of maturity have shaped Kenya's politics. This superb book will find a wide and appreciative audience."--Philippa Levine, author of Prostitution, Race, and Politics: Policing Venereal Disease in the British Empire

"Provocative and meticulously researched, Ocobock's book demonstrates the importance of age and masculinity in Kenyan history. Readers will appreciate the elegant prose and arresting detail of this rigorous narrative history. Ocobock is unquestionably a historian and writer of first rank."--Kenda Mutongi, author of Matatu: A History of Popular Transportation in Nairobi

From the Publisher