African Resistance and Cultural Nationalism: The Kikuyu Independent Schools Movement in Kenya
Author:
James Arthur Wilson, Jr.
Degree Date:
May, 1994
Committee Chairperson:
Sandra Greene
Call Number:
Thesis DT 3.5 1994 W749
Description:
xii, 127 leaves: ill.; 29 cm.
Abstract:
This thesis examines resistance to missionary and British colonial education in Kenya from 1900 to 1940. During this period significant cultural, social, and political changes occurred because many Africans were dissatisfied with mission-colonial technical schools. The Kikuyu people were particularly skeptical of the missionary teachings to convert Africans into "civilized", "educated", "semi-skilled", Christian laborers. Hence, opposing perspectives regarding the type of education Africans should receive developed between the Kikuyu people, Christian missionary societies, and the colonial government. This study explores the evolution of the Kikuyu Independent Schools Movement and its significance for the development of political consciousness of the Kikuyu people which, in turn, created a political foundation that led to the Kenyan Independence movement. The main focus of this study examines the interplay between African resistance and cultural nationalism. I analyze how the Kikuyu Independent Schools Movement empowered the Kikuyu people to reclaim their cultural identity and how this identity, in turn, sparked the Kikuyu to demand their independence from British cultural, educational, and political domination.