Education and politics: student activism for elite recruitment in Kenya

Abstract

ABSTRACT African states have undergone dynamic political processes ever since their struggle for independence. Students have played an important role in political developments and triggered processes of democratisation. In the course of recent waves of protests and political activism, however, students took a more ambivalent stance against both the state and the political elite. This report is based in parts on field research. It discusses the relation between student activism and the political elite in Kenya. During the overall change in the meaning and function of higher education, universities and student activism have played an important role in political development. This report analyses the education system on the basis of (qualitative) research on education and student activism in Kenya. The paper focuses on the education system as an important factor in the recruitment of political elites.