Ethnicity, Democracy and Citizenship in Africa

This book explores two kinds of citizenship deficits: those experienced by the Nubians in Kenya and those which represent the limits of citizenship theories. The author argues for an understanding of citizenship as made up of multiple component parts: status, rights and membership, which are often disaggregated through time, across geographic spaces. This departure from a unitary language of citizenship allows an analysis of the central role of ethnicity in the recognition of political membership and distribution of political goods in Kenya. This analysis generates important insights into the risks and possibilities of a relationship between ethnicity and democracy.