Unhappy Valley Book One by Bruce Berman

Unhappy Valley Book One by Bruce Berman

This long-awaited book is a considerable revision in the understanding of the history of colonial Kenya and, more widely, colonialism in Africa. There is a substantial amount of new work and this is interlocked with shared areas of concern that the authors have been exploring since 1976.
The authors investigate major themes. These include the conquest origins and subsequent development of the colonial state, the contradictory social forces that articulated African societies to European capitalism, and the creation of new political communities and changing meanings of ethnicity in Africa, in the context of social differentiation and class formation. There is substantial new work on the problems of Mau Mau and of wealth, poverty and civic virtue in Kikuyu political thought.
The authors make a fresh contribution to a deeper historical understanding of the development of contemporary Kenyan society and, in particular, of the British and Kukuyu origins of Mau Mau and the emergency of the 1950s.
They also highlight some of the shortcomings of ideas about development, explore the limitations of narrowly structuralist Marxist theory of the state, and reflect on the role of history in the future of Africa.
Book One on State and Class will be used by students of African history as well as of colonial Kenya; it is also concerned with the theory of history and of political science.

"Unhappy Valley: Conflict in Kenya and in Africa is a must-read for all concerned with issues of colonization, dependency, and state building, as well as the nature and achievements of African resistance" -- Kinuthia Macharia, Modern African Studies "There are some truly excellent ideas presented in Unhappy Valley, especially those relating to the definition of ethnicity and the process that creates the colonial state. ... this work makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Kenyan history. More importantly, we are presented with new ways of examining African history which further the process of understanding and debate." -- African Studies Review

Bruce Berman is a professor of political studies at Queen's University, Ontario.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780821410172
ISBN 10	0821410172
Title	Unhappy Valley Book One
Author	Bruce Berman
Series	Eastern African Studies
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Ohio University Press
Year published	1992-04-03
Number of pages	277
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.