By asking the question “How do young, urban, professional Kenyans make connections between tribal identity, colonialism, and the lived experience of nationhood?,” the researcher engages with eight participants in exploring their relationships with their tribal groups. From this juncture the researcher, through a co-constructed process with participants, interrogates the idea of nationhood by querying their interpretations of the concepts of power and resistance within their multi-ethnic societies. The utility of KuPiga Hadithi as a cultural responsive methodology for data collection along with poetic analysis as part of the qualitative tools of examination allowed the researcher to identify five emergent and iterative themes: (1) colonial wounds, (2) power inequities, (3) tensions, (4) intersection, and (5) hope. Participant discussion of these themes suggests an impenetrable link between tribal identity and nationhood. Schooling, as first a colonial and then national construct, works to mediate that link. Therefore, there is the need for a re-conceptualization of the term ‘nation’ in the post-Independence era.
","abstract_html":"<p>By asking the question “How do young, urban, professional Kenyans make connections between tribal identity, colonialism, and the lived experience of nationhood?,” the researcher engages with eight participants in exploring their relationships with their tribal groups. From this juncture the researcher, through a co-constructed process with participants, interrogates the idea of nationhood by querying their interpretations of the concepts of power and resistance within their multi-ethnic societies. The utility of KuPiga Hadithi as a cultural responsive methodology for data collection along with poetic analysis as part of the qualitative tools of examination allowed the researcher to identify five emergent and iterative themes: (1) colonial wounds, (2) power inequities, (3) tensions, (4) intersection, and (5) hope. Participant discussion of these themes suggests an impenetrable link between tribal identity and nationhood. Schooling, as first a colonial and then national construct, works to mediate that link. Therefore, there is the need for a re-conceptualization of the term ‘nation’ in the post-Independence era.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Achieng-Evensen, Charlotte"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Suzanne SooHoo","Peter McLaren","Lilia Monzò","Ndindi Kitonga"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:00Z","subjects":["decolonization","indigeneity","researcher positionality","nationhood","colonial wounds","indigenous knowing","KuPiga Hadithi","Sage Philosophy","Kenya","Anticolonial theory","poetic analysis","culturally responsive methodologies","African Languages and Societies","African Studies","Community-Based Learning","Community-Based Research","Educational Sociology","Ethnic Studies","Inequality and Stratification","International and Comparative Education","Other Education","Other Sociology","Place and Environment","Politics and Social Change","Race and Ethnicity","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies","Regional Sociology","Social and Cultural Anthropology","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education","Social Psychology and Interaction","Sociology of Culture","Theory, Knowledge and Science"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/ces_dissertations/9","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Suzanne SooHoo","Peter McLaren","Lilia Monzò","Ndindi Kitonga"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Achieng-Evensen, Charlotte"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["decolonization","indigeneity","researcher positionality","nationhood","colonial wounds","indigenous knowing","KuPiga Hadithi","Sage Philosophy","Kenya","Anticolonial theory","poetic analysis","culturally responsive methodologies","African Languages and Societies","African Studies","Community-Based Learning","Community-Based Research","Educational Sociology","Ethnic Studies","Inequality and Stratification","International and Comparative Education","Other Education","Other Sociology","Place and Environment","Politics and Social Change","Race and Ethnicity","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies","Regional Sociology","Social and Cultural Anthropology","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education","Social Psychology and Interaction","Sociology of Culture","Theory, Knowledge and Science"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/ces_dissertations/9"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["By asking the question “How do young, urban, professional Kenyans make connections between tribal identity, colonialism, and the lived experience of nationhood?,” the researcher engages with eight participants in exploring their relationships with their tribal groups. From this juncture the researcher, through a co-constructed process with participants, interrogates the idea of nationhood by querying their interpretations of the concepts of power and resistance within their multi-ethnic societies. The utility of KuPiga Hadithi as a cultural responsive methodology for data collection along with poetic analysis as part of the qualitative tools of examination allowed the researcher to identify five emergent and iterative themes: (1) colonial wounds, (2) power inequities, (3) tensions, (4) intersection, and (5) hope. Participant discussion of these themes suggests an impenetrable link between tribal identity and nationhood. Schooling, as first a colonial and then national construct, works to mediate that link. Therefore, there is the need for a re-conceptualization of the term ‘nation’ in the post-Independence era.
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"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/ces_dissertations/9"],"dc:source":["Achieng-Evensen, C. (2016). Young, urban, professional, and Kenyan?: Conversations surrounding tribal identity and nationhood (Doctoral dissertation). https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000015"],"dc:subject":["decolonization","indigeneity","researcher positionality","nationhood","colonial wounds","indigenous knowing","KuPiga Hadithi","Sage Philosophy","Kenya","Anticolonial theory","poetic analysis","culturally responsive methodologies","African Languages and Societies","African Studies","Community-Based Learning","Community-Based Research","Educational Sociology","Ethnic Studies","Inequality and Stratification","International and Comparative Education","Other Education","Other Sociology","Place and Environment","Politics and Social Change","Race and Ethnicity","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies","Regional Sociology","Social and Cultural Anthropology","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education","Social Psychology and Interaction","Sociology of Culture","Theory, Knowledge and Science"],"dc:title":["Young, Urban, Professional, and Kenyan?: Conversations Surrounding Tribal Identity and Nationhood"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:00Z"}