For Money and Elders: Ritual, Sovereignty, and the Sacred in Kenya - Couverture souple

Blunt, Robert W.

 
9780226655758: For Money and Elders: Ritual, Sovereignty, and the Sacred in Kenya
Couverture souple
ISBN 10 : 022665575X ISBN 13 : 9780226655758
Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 2019

Synopsis

Many observers of Kenya’s complicated history see causes for concern, from the use of public office for private gain to a constitutional structure historically lopsided towards the executive branch. Yet efforts from critics and academics to diagnose the country’s problems do not often consider what these fiscal and political issues mean to ordinary Kenyans. How do Kenyans express their own political understanding, make sense of governance, and articulate what they expect from their leaders?

In For Money and Elders, Robert W. Blunt addresses these questions by turning to the political, economic, and religious signs in circulation in Kenya today. He examines how Kenyans attempt to make sense of political instability caused by the uncertainty of authority behind everything from currency to title deeds. When the symbolic order of a society is up for grabs, he shows, violence may seem like an expedient way to enforce the authority of signs. Drawing on fertile concepts of sovereignty, elderhood, counterfeiting, acephaly, and more, Blunt explores phenomena as diverse as the destabilization of ritual “oaths,” public anxieties about Satanism with the advent of democratic reform, and mistrust of official signs. The result is a fascinating glimpse into Kenya’s past and present and a penetrating reflection on meanings of violence in African politics.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de l?auteur

Robert W. Blunt is associate professor of religious studies at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, where he is also affiliated with the Africana Studies Program.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
University of Chicago Press
Date d'édition
2019
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
022665575X
ISBN 13 
9780226655758
Reliure
Broché
Nombre de pages
246
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible

Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9780226655611: For Money and Elders: Ritual, Sovereignty, and the Sacred in Kenya

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  022665561X ISBN 13 :  9780226655611
Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 2019
Couverture rigide