The “Asian question” in Kenya: history and new trends

Abstract

  This article explores the history of the emergence, development and current state of the discourse dedicated to the “Asian question” in Kenya. The emphasis is placed on active participation of the immigrants from British India in many key spheres of Kenyan society – business, public service, medicine, publishing industry, and anticolonial movement. Special attention is given to examination of the “Indian question” in the colonial era of Kenyan history as one of the crucial factors of the emergence of the ”Asian question” during the period of independence of the country. Assessment is conducted on the current status of South Asian diaspora in Kenya. Research methodology leans on the comparative-historical and civilizational approaches. In the 1960s –1970s, the Kenyan government pursued the policy of “Africanization” aimed at excluding Indians and their descendants from the economic and social sphere of the country. This approach induced mass emigration of the Indian population from Kenya to the United Kingdom and other Western countries. The “Asian question” has become a peculiar response of the Kenyan society to socioeconomic and financial problems of the 1980s – 1990s, an attempt to find positive aspects in the activity of South Asian capital in history of the country. Despite the challenging interethnic situation, the immigrants from South Asia have formed an ethnic community in Kenya and maintain close ties with the Indian diaspora abroad.