'Now you see me, now you don't' - a study of the politics of visibility and the sexual minority movement in Kenya

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dc.contributor.advisorCooper, Brendaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMugo, Cynthiaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-11-10T09:53:28Z
dc.date.available2017-11-10T09:53:28Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.date.updated2017-05-18T14:18:21Z
dc.description.abstractThis study explores the varied ways sexual minority organisations in Kenya negotiate their choices, decisions and actions when determining how, when, and why to be publicly visible or retreat from visibility. This they have to do in the context of the threats of retribution on the part of Kenyan state leaders to their efforts to protect sexual minority rights. Sexual minority organising carries the risk of verbal abuse and the threat of arrest and other retribution. In spite of this, sexual minorities have organised themselves into publicly visible social movement organisations over the last ten years. In addition to the hostility of the Kenyan state, these organisations operate within the context of the uneven situation with regard to the constraints or otherwise of organising as sexual minorities between the Global South and North. The situation is further complicated by the role of donors, who bring their own experiences and agendas from the Global North, not always appropriately, into African contexts. Amid such varied responses to sexual minority organising, how, when, and why do Kenyan social movement organizations become publicly visible or retreat from visibility? To recognise the various forces that influence (in)visibility choices that sexual minority organisations have to negotiate, I used sociologist James M. Jasper's (2006) concept of "strategic dilemma". Sexual minority social movement organisations field strategic dilemmas when they strategise around whether and how to become visible, modify their public profile, or forgo political opportunities. To understand the micro-political dynamics of how sexual minority social movement organisations negotiated such strategic dilemmas of visibility and invisibility, I analysed 200 newspaper articles and sexual minority organisational documents and conducted 12 in-depth interviews with staff, members and leaders of sexual minority social movement organisations. Ultimately the findings of this thesis centre on the fluidity of visibility and invisibility as was experienced by Kenyan sexual minority organisations. (ln)visibility was experienced in diverse ways as a process that included a series of steps that do not have absolute values nor are they necessarily coherent in different time and space. My findings advance social movement theorizing by demonstrating the importance of studying social movements in the global South. In addition, my findings contribute to postcolonial feminist and queer theorizing by showing how marginalised sexual and gender minorities in Kenya struggled strategically to assert their democratic inclusion in the state.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMugo, C. (2009). <i>'Now you see me, now you don't' - a study of the politics of visibility and the sexual minority movement in Kenya</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,African Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26147en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMugo, Cynthia. <i>"'Now you see me, now you don't' - a study of the politics of visibility and the sexual minority movement in Kenya."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,African Studies, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26147en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMugo, C. 2009. 'Now you see me, now you don't' - a study of the politics of visibility and the sexual minority movement in Kenya. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Mugo, Cynthia AB - This study explores the varied ways sexual minority organisations in Kenya negotiate their choices, decisions and actions when determining how, when, and why to be publicly visible or retreat from visibility. This they have to do in the context of the threats of retribution on the part of Kenyan state leaders to their efforts to protect sexual minority rights. Sexual minority organising carries the risk of verbal abuse and the threat of arrest and other retribution. In spite of this, sexual minorities have organised themselves into publicly visible social movement organisations over the last ten years. In addition to the hostility of the Kenyan state, these organisations operate within the context of the uneven situation with regard to the constraints or otherwise of organising as sexual minorities between the Global South and North. The situation is further complicated by the role of donors, who bring their own experiences and agendas from the Global North, not always appropriately, into African contexts. Amid such varied responses to sexual minority organising, how, when, and why do Kenyan social movement organizations become publicly visible or retreat from visibility? To recognise the various forces that influence (in)visibility choices that sexual minority organisations have to negotiate, I used sociologist James M. Jasper's (2006) concept of "strategic dilemma". Sexual minority social movement organisations field strategic dilemmas when they strategise around whether and how to become visible, modify their public profile, or forgo political opportunities. To understand the micro-political dynamics of how sexual minority social movement organisations negotiated such strategic dilemmas of visibility and invisibility, I analysed 200 newspaper articles and sexual minority organisational documents and conducted 12 in-depth interviews with staff, members and leaders of sexual minority social movement organisations. Ultimately the findings of this thesis centre on the fluidity of visibility and invisibility as was experienced by Kenyan sexual minority organisations. (ln)visibility was experienced in diverse ways as a process that included a series of steps that do not have absolute values nor are they necessarily coherent in different time and space. My findings advance social movement theorizing by demonstrating the importance of studying social movements in the global South. In addition, my findings contribute to postcolonial feminist and queer theorizing by showing how marginalised sexual and gender minorities in Kenya struggled strategically to assert their democratic inclusion in the state. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - 'Now you see me, now you don't' - a study of the politics of visibility and the sexual minority movement in Kenya TI - 'Now you see me, now you don't' - a study of the politics of visibility and the sexual minority movement in Kenya UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26147 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/26147
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMugo C. 'Now you see me, now you don't' - a study of the politics of visibility and the sexual minority movement in Kenya. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,African Studies, 2009 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26147en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentAfrican Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherAfrican Studiesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherGender Studiesen_ZA
dc.title'Now you see me, now you don't' - a study of the politics of visibility and the sexual minority movement in Kenyaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMPhilen_ZA
uct.type.filetype
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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