The Management of Unwanted Pregnancy Among Women in Nairobi,Kenya

ABSTRACT. Objectives: This study probed both the meanings women ascribe to their unwanted pregnancies and the drivers of their choices in relation to the management of such pregnancies. Methods: Cross-sectional qualitative in-depth individual interviews were conducted with 80 women and girls in Nairobi, Kenya. Results: Gender, livelihoods, morality, marital status, and male partners exerted extensively complex and multidimensional influence on women's management of their unintentional pregnancies. For instance, although gender norms were frequently invoked to justify terminating unwanted pregnancies, they also regularly provided strong motivations for carrying such pregnancies to term. Conclusions: Urgently needed are programs and policies that support women to avoid unwanted pregnancies and help them respond safely and pragmatically to such pregnancies when they occur.     

The meanings of citizenship: media use and democracy in South Africa

In 1994, South Africans embarked on a project to create new meanings of citizenship in order to transcend the disenfranchisement and divisions created by apartheid. This article examines the context in which new forms of citizenship are evolving in South Africa and how South African citizens use the media to give meaning to concepts such as “an active public sphere,” “civic agency” and “participatory politics.” The objective of the research is to provide information about the way in which the media contribute to the quality of democracy in South Africa through mediating citizenship in a way that improves prospects for citizens to exert influence over public decisions. As has been the case in other post-authoritarian and postcolonial settings, the continuation of existing unequal relationships to government persists even when new democratic spaces have opened up. This article interrogates the assumption that media are central to citizens’ political and civic engagements in a transitional society marked by persisting inequalities. This interrogation draws on empirical research with citizens to investigate the question that the media are central to constructions of citizenship and participation and engagement with democratic processes. Our research finds that young South Africans interviewed are disengaged from politics and find that the media does not speak to or connect with their everyday lives. They view the state on both national and local levels as not being prepared to listen to their experiences, ideas or conditions of life. While the respondents trust the media as credible institutions, they do not experience the media as being relevant to their lives. The perceived disinterest of the state and the lack of relevance of the media, work together to create a sense of powerlessness and inability to influence policy-making among the young people interviewed. For the media to intervene in this state of affairs, it would have to create more opportunities for young people to participate directly in meaning production through the media, starting by listening more closely to their experiences in order to respond to their concerns in a relevant way.     

The contribution of media consumption to civic participation

A national UK survey (N = 1017) examined the association between media consumption and three indicators of civic participation - likelihood of voting, interest in politics, and actions taken in response to a public issue of concern to the respondent. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the variance explained by media use variables after first controlling for demographic, social and political predictors of each indicator of participation. Media use significantly added to explaining variance in civic participation as follows. In accounting for voting, demographic and political/social factors mattered, but so too did some media habits (listening to the radio and engagement with the news). Interest in politics was accounted for by political/social factors and by media use, especially higher news engagement and lower media trust. However, taking action on an issue of concern was accounted for only by political/social factors, with the exception that slightly fewer actions were taken by those who watched more television. These findings provided little support for the media malaise thesis, and instead were interpreted as providing qualified support for the cognitive/motivational theory of news as a means of engaging the public.     

The problems of project implementation:: a post-mortem study of Thika Dam project, Kenya

This paper analyses the problems of project implementation programmes. Taking a case study of Thika Dam Component of the Third Nairobi Water Supply Project, the analysis reveals that delays in land acquisition among other factors had a serious impact on the overall performance of development project. The impact of delays in acquisition resulted into cost overruns due to price variations and time overruns. In this paper, the main focus is on the impact that the delays in land acquisition had on the successful completion of a development project. It further discusses the contribution of land availability to the realisation of project planning objectives. The macro-economic instability that Kenya faced during the project implementation is also highlighted. It is hoped that the findings of this study will provide useful insights into policy matters concerning land acquisition in project implementation.     

‘TODOS SOMOS PRESIDENTES/WE ARE ALL PRESIDENTS’

In light of recent discussions of Jacques Rancière's notion of the political in cultural theory and the ‘left turn’ in Latin America, exemplified in the election of Evo Morales as the first indigenous president, this essay discusses concepts of governance elaborated by Bolivian indigenous intellectuals and media activists. It engages in detail with three examples of thinking through what is arguably a broad de-colonial process: the work of the Andean Oral History Workshop (THOA) and the movement to reconstitute the ayllu; Pablo Mamani's analysis of the micro-governments in El Alto; and CEFREC-CAIB's indigenous media activism. Thinking from the perspective of a long-standing struggle against global capitalism and its colonial legacies, the political constitutes – paradoxically – a complex and dynamic process of institutionalized consensus governance. Levels of community, regional, and national governance are bound into a feedback loop where representation gives way to the ideal of ‘mandar obedeciendo’ (governing by obeying). The Bolivian ‘democratic revolution’ is hence not conceptualized merely as a widening of the citizen base – a form of inclusion that Rancière would call ‘police’-but rather as profoundly reshaping the relation between the social, the cultural, and the state, and thus of democracy itself.     

China's development loans and the threat of debt crisis in Kenya

The increased access of African countries to external capital markets has rekindled interest in growing external borrowing and placed debt sustainability at the forefront of the continent's policy agenda. In this article, we discuss the conceptual link between external loans and debt challenges. In this article, the analysis is cast in the context of new sources of loans triggered by Sino–African co‐operation. The article examines the main sectors targeted for financing in Kenya, how the Chinese‐funded projects have been structured, the financial models adopted to deliver on the projects, and the overall gains from such projects. Ultimately, the article examines the external debt situation in Kenya and how Chinese loans are likely to precipitate a crisis of sustainability. The analysis shows that, although the external financial support plays a critical role in addressing the gap in Kenya's infrastructure development, the loans also pose risks of debt sustainability in the longer term, Chinese loans particularly are tied and lack transparency. The emerging debt challenges point to the need for policy reforms in favour of enhancing loans transparency and the beneficial impacts. This would enhance the repayment capacity of borrowing countries.     

Social media and Umbrella Movement: insurgent public sphere in formation

The study examines the role of social media during the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong that lasted from September to December 2014. By interviewing a random sample of 1011 respondents over the telephone before the end of the Umbrella Movement, it was found that social media had become an insurgent public sphere (IPS) in the protest movement. Data showed that acquisition of political news through social media was related positively to support for the Umbrella Movement and adversely with satisfaction and trust of established political authorities, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the Hong Kong police, and the Chinese central government. The insurgent public sphere role of social media, its implications, and likely development vis-à-vis the state and the market are discussed.     

Gendered perceptions of power and decision‐making in rural Kenya

Development policies and programmes rest on assumptions about what constitutes power and how to change power dynamics. However, they rarely consider local understandings of power. In this article we ask how these common assumptions correspond with socially and culturally specific ideas about what power is, who can hold power, and how power can be transferred, in rural communities in Kenya's lake region. We find that men and women are constantly negotiating for power in the household, within the bounds of their gendered limitations. And the predominant zero‐sum conception of power may undermine common development approaches to empowerment. However, the results also highlight some exceptions to this conceptualization, as well as the value of taking a whole‐family approach to empowerment.     

Lukewarm Nationalism: The 2020 Tokyo Olympics,Social Media and Affective Communities

This article considers the way in which a new nationalism is being created in the age of the Internet and social media by looking at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and other Games in the past. The development of media technology from film, radio, and television to the Internet and social media has changed the character of the Olympic Games as media event. It has been argued that these developments have created a shared consciousness, a sense of belonging and enthusiastic nationalism in the age of modern nation‐state. While the spread of the Internet and social media was originally expected to contribute to globalization or to the emergence of global citizens in a global village, as McLuhan once predicted, it seems that the world is more divided, fragmented, and fluid than ever. At the same time, the digital media organize various layers of community not only by ideology but also by affect: affective communities. This often leads to the rise of chauvinistic nationalism in developed countries. With reference to McLuhan's famous argument on hot and cool media, the article tries to examine the character of contemporary lukewarm nationalism in the age of digital media.     

The Trouble With Condoms: Norms and Meanings of Sexuality and Condom Use Among School-Going Youth in Kenya

ABSTRACT

Despite knowledge of the effectiveness of condoms in preventing HIV transmission, condoms continue to be reported in only a minority of sexual encounters even with nonpermanent partners. This study used focus-group discussions with youth and interviews with community leaders from 22 communities in the Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces, Kenya, to examine the sociocultural influences on condom use among school-going youth. Three overarching themes emerged from a thematic analysis of the data. Condoms did not fit with the purposes, meanings, and understandings of sexuality; in fact, condom use violated most of these. Condoms were also thought to be dangerous for girls and women, to contribute to the spread of HIV, and to be unnecessary for protection against HIV. Finally, given the hardships of life and multiple diseases and circumstances that threatened life, HIV was seen as just another trouble of living. Sex without a condom, within this context, was described as one of the pleasures of a short life. The complexities of sexuality evidenced in the discussions of these youth and adults challenge the viability of the ABC (abstain, be faithful, use a condom) message as a preventive measure against HIV transmission.     

News media use,credibility, and efficacy: an analysis of media participation intention in China

This study1 ^1. Data for this research were made available by a grant from the Media Literacy Theory and Practice Project (code 04JDZ00038) at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. investigates the relationship between news media use and media participation intention in China by adopting an audience-oriented perspective in light of the changing patterns of media content concomitant with widespread commercialization in reformed China. Data from a total of 2,409 valid face-to-face interviews were collected in four cities during November 2006 and May 2007. Our results suggest that television news had a positive association with media participation intention, whereas newspaper and Internet news use produced mixed results. In addition, significant regional differences regarding media influences were identified.     

Diverging patterns of interaction around news on social media: insularity and partisanship during the 2018 Italian election campaign

ABSTRACT

The paper considers how social media ecologies are affecting partisan engagement around political news and online attention economies by investigating the case of the 2018 Italian general election. By analyzing Twitter and Facebook interactions around political news in the lead-up to the election, we shed light on levels of insularity characterizing sources preferred by different partisan communities and investigate how specific patterns of active attention emerge around different sources and around stories proposing different framing of specific political actors. Our findings indicate that, on Twitter, sources mainly shared by supporters of populist parties (the Five Star Movement and the League) are characterized by higher levels of insularity compared to those shared by supporters of other parties. We also find that, on Facebook, news items published by highly insular sources receive a higher number of shares per comment. Finally, our analyses show that news presenting a positive framing of the Five Star Movement – the unique ‘cyber party’ in the system – receives a higher number of shares per comment compared to items presenting the Movement in a negative light, while the opposite is true for stories on all other political parties.     

Television and Political Alienation: Does Television News Induce Political Cynicism and Inefficacy in Japan?

Abstract: In many democratic societies, including Japan, political alienation such as political cynicism or inefficacy is widespread among the general public. Some researchers argue that along with various other factors embedded in political systems, the mass media, particularly television, plays a crucial role in promoting or intensifying political alienation. Focusing on the influence of the media, this study examines whether television news induces political cynicism and inefficacy in Japan. Previous research has indicated that public and commercial broadcasts may have different impacts on the political attitude of the audience. Thus, this study predicts that the relationship between television news exposure and political alienation would be stronger among those who exclusively watch commercial news programs. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicate that among non-Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) news viewers, those who view television news more frequently are more likely to feel politically inefficacious, and that those who rely exclusively on television for political information are more likely to be politically cynical. However, negative influences associated with television reliance or television news viewing are not observed among the NHK news viewers, although positive influences are also not observed. Thus, according to the results, the "videomalaise" effect would be limited to certain viewers. This article discusses the implications of the findings and also suggests that more exclusive psychological explanations be examined for the videomalaise effect.     

Environmental risks of urban agriculture in the Lake Victoria drainage basin: A case of Kisumu municipality, Kenya

This paper examines the environmental risks threatening sustainable urban agriculture in Kisumu municipality. The issues covered in the paper are: review of policy and institutional framework, infrastructure and service delivery, pollution analysis of irrigation water and crops and urban agriculture waste management. In addition, the paper proposes measures for sustainable urban agriculture. Household survey and pollution analysis of irrigation water and crops (kales and yams) were conducted in the study area. To capture spatial distribution of farmers in the municipality, the municipality was stratified into four strata and in each stratum a combination of stratified-systematic-simple random sampling was used to sample 194 households. Structured household questionnaire was administered to the sampled households.     

An Interplay of Individual Motivations and Sociocultural Factors Predisposing Men to Acts of Rape in Kenya

ABSTRACT

There is a general public perception in Kenya that rapists are “sick” people who deserve to be put far away from the society. Consequently, rape perpetrators are left to be dealt with by the criminal justice system while most of the research has focused on the rape survivors without taking into consideration the need to explore and understand the motivations and sociocultural factors that could predispose men to rape. This paper examines this form of “deviant” sexuality characteristic of some men. The paper is based on findings of a study conducted in three main prisons in Kenya between January and March 2008. The study sample was drawn from the Kamiti, Naivasha, and Nyeri main prisons. Respondents were convicted rapists serving their jail terms. The findings suggest that a number of factors may predispose a man to rape. These factors could be either individual motivational factors, sociocultural factors, or a combination of both. The individual motivational factors identified included drug consumption, marital problems as an excuse for rape, inability to negotiate for consensual sex due to being shy or afraid of women, rape as a form of sexual access, psychological factors like pornographic influence and rape hallucinations, impersonal sex and power, and use of rape as a “tool” for punishment. On the other hand, the sociocultural factors identified included the view of rape as a sexual act rather than an act of violence, social attitude that the woman “invited” the rape, early childhood environment, cultural practices, peer influence, and a lack of parental advice on sexual activities.     

The Venezuelan Government and the Global Field: The Legislative Battle over Foreign Funding for Nongovernmental Organizations

In recent years, several governments have targeted nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) by enacting legislation that prohibits foreign funding for them. This article uses diplomatic cables, newspaper articles, and interviews with representatives from NGOs and donors to explain the Venezuelan government's passage of legislation prohibiting foreign funding for political NGOs in 2010. Existent political, sociological, and globalization‐oriented theories fail to explain the passage and timing of this legislation. Instead, I utilize and extend global fields theory to examine the Venezuelan government's redirection of its foreign relations, which I argue generated the political opportunity for the government to pass this legislation. I show that the government initially remained keyed into a global subfield involving groups that successfully pressured it to reconsider a more radical form of legislation prohibiting direct foreign funding for all NGOs when it came up for discussion in 2006, including the U.S. and Western European governments, and domestic NGOs. By 2010, however, the government had become embedded within a global subfield involving authoritarian and anti‐imperial governments that had already passed similar legislation, and domestic community councils. These newfound relations insulated the government from reconsideration and allowed it the political opportunity to pass a new, less radical piece of legislation.     

Political transition and sexual and gender-based violence in South Africa,Kenya, and Zimbabwe: a comparative analysis

This article draws on research conducted in Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe that focused on violence in the context of political transition. The paper examines the relation between political transition and sexual and gender-based violence in the three countries. The paper argues that it is critical to recognise sexual and gender-based violence as bound to systemic gendered inequality if such forms of violence are to be addressed and mitigated when periods of violent conflict end.     

Testing news trustworthiness in an online public sphere: a case study of The Economist's news report covering the riots in Xinjiang,China

This paper explores the news trustworthiness and media credibility of The Economist's news report on 9 July 2009, and the communicative roles of 846 readers' responses. Theoretically guided by news translation and cultural resistance and the online public sphere, we applied online field observation and discourse analysis and achieved two main findings: First, although the news report covered the Xinjiang riots with comprehensive and attractive details, it violated the core journalism value of media credibility and journalistic objectivity by providing misleading pictures and significant unreliable and biased coverage. Second, the major communicative roles of the online readers' responses generally match Dahlberg's six conditions of an ideal online public sphere, which is still challenging but promising to realize.     

Small-scale farming in semi-arid areas: Livelihood dynamics between 1997 and 2010 in Laikipia,Kenya

The rural population of semi-arid lands in Kenya face multiple challenges that result from population growth, poor markets, land use and climatic changes. In particular, subsistence oriented farmers face various risks and opportunities in their attempt to secure their livelihoods. This paper presents an analysis on how livelihood assets and strategies of smallholders in Laikipia County, Kenya, have changed within the last decade and discusses the implications for development interventions. The analysis is based on bi-temporal data from 170 semi-structured household interviews in 1997 and a follow-up survey of 30 households conducted in 2010. Well-being indicators were developed and livelihood portfolios compared. The results show a striking persistence in low asset endowment for the majority of smallholders from an aggregated perspective, whereas transitions into and out of better livelihood conditions become evident from a household perspective. The investment in, and accumulation of, conventional buffer or productive assets, such as grain stocks, livestock or land, does not shield households from adverse shocks and stresses as smallholders were shown to easily slip back into poverty. Household portfolios display particular constraints for smallholders in expanding natural resource related activities and a substantial decrease in livestock numbers. While off-farm activities could possibly increase well-being, the prevailing low income levels and high insecurity for the majority who are engaged in off-farm employment, limits the ability to increase livelihood assets in the area.     

The Absence of the Ordinary in 2020 Presidential Politics: What Politicians Communicate

As the 2020 American presidential election approaches, it is worth thinking about the current electoral moment in terms of lessons from the recent and not-so-recent past. This article begins with an unlikely analysis. Ordinary life captures the attention of citizens who vote but do not spend their lives 24/7 on social media or cable news or public radio. Ordinary people do not spend their time discussing social policy over dinner. Ordinary people go to dinner—not dinner parties. The ordinary people are the path to victory in any political contest. This article explores the “ordinary” and its relation to politics.