Venue: Mathare Social Justice Centre, Time: August 22nd, 2 – 4 pm
Kenya is said to be in crisis again: too much public and private debt, too much poverty, inequality, unemployment, stress, fraud, corruption, state violence; the list goes on. These are crisis phenomena typical of neoliberal capitalism in Africa and elsewhere around the world. And yet, the public debate in Kenya hardly ever makes reference to the ‘C’ word; instead, things are explained with reference to development, “bad governance,” democracy, poverty, selfish elites, too many youth, and a drunk (or high) executive. And those who insist on speaking about capitalism are told: “we are better than those slow ujamaa people in Tanzania, where did socialism get them?”. We are tired of these discourses, and so AIAC, MSJC and ROAPE are convening this grounding to think together about why ‘C’ is so absent in our conversations, and yet what the capitalist roots of the Kenyan crisis might be. We do this also to privilege the local ways capitalism is understood and experienced, as well as the people-centred actions taken to fight it.
Welcome all!