Ethnicity and Separatism on the Kenya Coast

 
PIIS086954150007381-9-1
DOI10.31857/S086954150007381-9
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Occupation: Senior Research Fellow
Affiliation: Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: 30/1 Spiridonovka, Moscow, 123001, Russia
Journal nameEtnograficheskoe obozrenie
Edition№5
Pages102-115
Abstract

A movement of ethnic separatism in the Kenya Coast region (Mombasa Republican Council), which was formed in the beginning of the current century, is analyzed in ethnopolitical, cultural, and socioeconomic contexts. The movement antagonises traditional citizens of the Kenyan Coast (Mijikenda, Swahili, and Arabs) and recent migrants from the inner parts of the country (Kikuyu etc.), the latter having taken leading positions in the local business and social development. Among the most difficult issues that jeopardize relations between Kenyan citizens are contested title deeds on the land and availability of gains for all. Ethnopolitical categories used and reified for the management of conflicts provide the key for exploring the nature of ethnic separatism. For political elites, there is always a room to “construct” ethnicity but this occurs as part of more fundamental ethnic processes.

Keywordsethnopolitical rivalry and rhetoric, separatism, Mijikenda, Swahili, Kikuyu, Mombasa, Kenya
Received26.11.2019
Publication date02.12.2019
Number of characters33563
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1 Города-государства побережья Восточной Африки возникли как портово-перевалочные пункты в торговой системе, охватившей в I тыс. н.э. акваторию всего Индийского океана (библиографию вопроса см.: Caplan 2007). Последние археологические исследования позволяют обоснованно утверждать, что большинство из этих городов имели длительную предысторию, укорененную в африканских культурах банту (напр.: Fleisher et al. 2015). Грамматическая и лексическая основа языка населения побережья близкородственна языкам банту, однако суахили также вобрал в себя широчайший лексический материал из арабского языка (Spear 1981: 29–40). Сам термин “суахили” происходит от формы множественного числа арабского слова “сахель” (берег).
2 В VIII–XII вв. города-государства суахили принимают ислам (Fleisher et al. 2015: 102), что открывает широкие перспективы для переселенцев из арабских стран: некоторые из них стали крупными землевладельцами и плантаторами на побережье (Middleton 1992: 37–40, 48–49, 185–186), часть сохранила свою этническую идентичность как омани, хадрами, йемени, а чаще – просто арабы, хотя большинство в настоящее время не владеет арабским свободно (Parkin 1989: 165–167; Salim 2000: 225). Длительное время именно султаны Омана старались подчинить города-государства побережья, пока окончательно не утвердились в первой половине XIХ в. на Занзибаре (Iliffe 1979: 36–43; Vernet 2009: 54–58). Большинство городов суахили сохранили автономию во внутренних делах, войдя в состав султаната в качестве торговых партнеров (Brennan 2008: 835). И основным предметом этой торговли, протягивавшей свои щупальца все дальше вглубь континента, являлись рабы (Iliffe 1979: 49–50, 72–74; Salim 2000).
3 Конец работорговле положил колониальный раздел Восточной Африки. Англо-германское соглашение 1886 г. определило владения султана на побережье как полосу шириной в 10 миль, после чего немцы выкупили у него права на побережье Танганьики, силой подавив сопротивление некоторых городов суахили (Iliffe 1979: 91–97; Brennan 2008: 838). Англичане пошли другим путем. В 1890 г. по договору с султаном они установили протекторат над Занзибарским архипелагом, оставив, однако, в его формальном подчинении большую часть кенийского побережья (или Береговой протекторат) от г. Кипини до г. Ванга, что было закреплено в дополнительном договоре от 1895 г. (Agreement 1961). Хотя именно эти договоры заложили формальную основу притязаний современных кенийских сепаратистов, не менее важную роль сыграли и другие причины.
4 После Первой мировой войны увеличился приток на побережье мигрантов из центральных частей Кении (камба, луо, кикую); их прибытие неизбежно породило экономическую и культурную конкуренцию с местными жителями (Cooper 1987: 28–41, 147–157; Prestholdt 2014: 261). Достаточно быстро сформировалась квазиэтническая категория watu wa bara, или сокращенно – wabara, что на суахили буквально означает “жители внутренней части страны”, но стало подразумевать “переселенцы” (Stren 1978: 83–87; Bogonko 1980: 262; Mghanga 2010: 7, 45, 57; Chonghaile 2012). В дальнейшем именно эта категория начнет задавать смысловое поле сепаратизма на кенийском побережье, вобрав в себя коннотации разрушительного влияния на культуру суахили извне.

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