Sustainability and Social Justice

Politics, Class, and Gender in African Resource Management: The Case of Rural Kenya

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This analysis addresses the relationship between class and gender at the local level. It examines resource conflicts as they interact with both class and gender within Katheka Sublocation, a community in Machakos District, Kenya. It is based on data collected during July and August 1987 as part of a research project with Kenya's National environment Secretariat. The purpose of the project was to explore the effectiveness of community institutions in local resource management. Conflict over resource access and use in this community exacerbates and distorts cleavages along gender lines. These cleavages are deeply embedded in the patterns of male-female relations and are reflected in the customary division of labor within the household. Access to the resources of Katheka has, however, moved beyond the village community itself, involving urban elites who, as builders and contractors, are removing sand from the rivers and streams of Katheka. A class conflict has evolved between the poor villagers of Katheka and the urban elites of Nairobi. -from Author

Publication Title

Economic Development & Cultural Change

Publication Date

1-1-1992

Volume

40

Issue

4

First Page

809

Last Page

828

DOI

10.1086/451978

Keywords

land use

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS