Commitment issues: security and belonging in a white Kenyan household

Abstract

Once the archetype of romantic colonialism, white Kenyans with personal or familial ties to colonialism face a multitude of challenges with respect to their history and political status. In this article, I examine how discourses related to whites “belonging” in Kenya have constellated around the issue of security, especially in Nairobi, where crime (and recently, terrorism) makes security a potent and political topic. Of particular importance is the staff that white Kenyans employ in their homes. In contexts where African neighbours are predominantly impoverished, I emphasise employer–employee relationships as a key performance of commitment to the Kenyan community. As amendments to the Kenyan constitution have brought forth new issues related to citizenship and “commitment” by white Kenyan citizens, I also proffer that domestic projects of securitisation help to establish their investment or commitment to Kenya, constituting both a grounded and discursive defence against crime or political antagonism.

Représentant jadis l'archétype du colonialisme romantique, les Kényans blancs dotés de liens personnels ou familiaux avec le colonialisme se heurtent à une multitude de défis en ce qui concerne leur histoire et leur situation politique. Dans cet article, j'examine la manière dont les discours liés à l'« appartenance » des Blancs au Kenya ont formé une constellation autour de la question de la sécurité, en particulier à Nairobi, où la criminalité (et plus récemment le terrorisme) font de la sécurité un sujet puissant et politique. Un aspect qui revêt une importance particulière est le personnel que les Kényans blancs emploient chez eux. Dans des contextes où les voisins africains sont tout particulièrement pauvres, je souligne les relations entre les employeurs et les employés comme une représentation clé de l'engagement envers la communauté kényane. Tandis que des amendements de la constitution kényane ont fait ressortir de nouvelles questions liées à la citoyenneté et à l'« engagement » par des citoyens kényans blancs, je suggère également que les projets domestiques de « sécurisation » contribuent à établir leur investissement ou leur engagement envers le Kenya, dans la mesure où ils constituent une défense à la fois ancrée et discursive contre la criminalité ou l'antagonisme politique.

Keywords::

• security
• Kenya
• whiteness
• anthropology
• belonging

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to a number of readers who offered insightful suggestions on this paper, namely Blair Rutherford, Louise de la Gorgendiere, Stephen Brown, Glennys Egan, and two anonymous reviewers for CJAS. Rita Abrahamsen was an invaluable source of insight in the earlier phases of this project. I am also grateful to the graduate attachment programme at the British Institute in Eastern Africa for providing the time and support to finalise the manuscript. I am grateful, most of all, to the participants who graciously accepted me into their homes and lives.

Notes

^1. I emphasise that this study focuses on Kenyan citizens of European origin who were born or arrived in Kenya during colonial rule, as opposed to the many white expatriates residing in Nairobi, Coast Province, or elsewhere. Expatriates experience many of the same challenges as my participants with regard to everyday security, but their positions in Kenya are temporary or transient, and are well understood as such. Politically speaking, there is little at stake in implicating the experience of white expatriates in this discussion.

^2. All participants in this study have been assigned pseudonyms.

^3. If not by his first name, Phillip is always referred to by the Cranfords as their “houseboy” as shorthand for the fact he performs a range of domestic duties, as opposed to being a “cook” or “gardener”. Participants with female staff used “housegirl”. The terms “boy” or “girl” have historically been applied regardless of the worker's age.

^4. For a more in-depth historical analysis of the problematic relations between white Kenyans and the Kikuyu (as rooted in the Mau Mau rebellion), see Fox (2012).

^5. Nanny or childcare provider – a term used in Kenya since the early 1900s – derived from Gujarati and/or South Asian languages.

^6. Guard or “watchman” – used throughout Kenya.

^7. White person, or European – can refer to either citizens of European origin or white tourists or expatriates.

^8. A study of equal if not greater importance could be conducted on the subject of “Indianness” in Kenya. Far outnumbering whites and in greater economic integration, Indo-Kenyans have been subject to high degrees of politicisation at times of civil or economic unrest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Graham Fox

Graham Fox is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.