7 - Cinema and Wage Labour in Colonial Kenya
Corresponding Author(s) : Samson Kaunga Ndanyi
Afrika Zamani,
No. 27 (2019): Afrika Zamani: An Annual Journal of African History
Abstract
In the early 1920s, the first generation of African nationalists in colonial Kenya rejected capitalism and called for its abolition. The ‘agitators’ demanded that women and girls be exempted from compulsory labour and taxation. ‘Riots’ against the two most essential pillars of capitalism – labour and taxes – erupted in Nairobi, and the agitators paid for the agitation dearly, some with their lives. Responding swiftly and violently against an unorganised assembly consisting of low-wage workers, the British government in Kenya made a bloodbath out of the encounter by firing at men and women who, according to its own admission, were armed with sticks. The fallout was swift and immediate. First, it compelled the colonial administration in Nairobi to respond to a concerned international community that questioned its excessive use of force. Secondly, it influenced policy makers to replace force with a ‘soft approach’. This article is a labour history that employs instructional films produced in London for colonial subjects in the colonies, including Kenya, to shine a spotlight on the intersection of wage labour and cultural programmes for Africans.
Keywords
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
- Ambler, C., 2011, ‘Projecting the Modern Colonial State: The Mobile Cinema in Kenya’, in L. Grieveson and C. MacCabe, eds, Film and the End of Empire, London: British Film Institute.
- Beake, C., 1948, ‘The Commercial Entertainment Film and Its Effect on Colonial Peoples’, in The Film in Colonial Development: A Report of a Conference, London: British Film Institute.
- Branch, D., 2009, Defeating Mau Mau, Creating Kenya: Counterinsurgency, Civil War, and Decolonization, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Burns, J., 2000, ‘Watching Africans watch films: theories of spectatorship in British Colonial Africa’, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 20 (2): 197–211.
- Burns, J., 2002, Flickering Shadows: Cinema and Identity in Colonial Zimbabwe, Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
- Diawara, M., 1987, ‘Sub-Saharan African film production: technological paternalism’, Jump Cut 32: 61–65.
- Druick, Z., 2012, ‘At the margins of cinema history: mobile cinema in the British Empire’, Public 40: 119–125.
- Elkins, C., 2005, Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya, New York, NY: Henry Holt Company.
- Fanon, F. 1963, The Wretched of the Earth, New York: Grove Press.
- Freire, P., 1968, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (trans. M.B. Ramos), New York: Seabury Press.
- Githuku, N. K., 2015, Mau Mau Crucible of War: Statehood, National Identity, and Politics of Postcolonial Kenya, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
- Hondo, M., 1996, ‘What is Cinema for Us?’, in I. Bakari and C. Mbye, eds, African Experiences of Cinema, London: British Film Institute.
- Kitching, G., 1980, Class and Economic Change in Kenya: The Making of an African Petite-Bourgeoisie, 1905–1970, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
- Koster, M. M., 2016, The Power of the Oath: Mau Mau Nationalism in Kenya, 1952–1960, Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.
- Larkin, B., 2008, Signal and Noise: Media, Infrastructure, and Urban Culture in Nigeria, Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
- Maxon, R., 2011, Britain and Kenya’s Constitutions, 1950–1960, Amherst, NY: Cambria Press.
- Mboya, T. 1963, ‘African socialism’, Transition 8: 17–19.
- Morel, E. D., 1969, The Black Man’s Burden: The White Man in Africa from the Fifteenth Century to World War I, New York and London: Modern Reader.
- Ngugi wa Thiong’o, 1964, Weep Not, Child, Oxford: Macmillan.
- Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Ngugi wa Mirii, 1982, I will Marry When I Want, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
- Ochieng’, W. R. and Ogot, B. A., eds, 1995, Decolonization and Independence in Kenya, 1940–93, Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
- Parsons, N., 2004, The Kanye Cinema Experiment, 1944–1946, Web Publishers (1–16).
- Rodney, W., 1972, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Washington, DC: Howard University Press.
- Sellers, W., 1941, ‘The production of films for primitive people’, Journal of the British Kinematograph Society 10 (3): 104–13.
- Smyth, R., 1983, ‘Movies and Mandarins: The Official Film and British Colonial Africa’, in J. Curran and V. Porter, eds, British Cinema History, NJ: Barnes & Noble Books.
- Smyth, R., 2011, ‘Images of Empire on Shifting Sands: The Colonial Film Unit in West Africa in the Post-war Period’, in L. Grieveson and C. MacCabe, eds, Film and the End of Empire, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Thuku, H., 1970, Harry Thuku: An Autobiography, Nairobi: Oxford University Press.
- Ukadike, F., 1994, Black African Cinema, Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
References
Ambler, C., 2011, ‘Projecting the Modern Colonial State: The Mobile Cinema in Kenya’, in L. Grieveson and C. MacCabe, eds, Film and the End of Empire, London: British Film Institute.
Beake, C., 1948, ‘The Commercial Entertainment Film and Its Effect on Colonial Peoples’, in The Film in Colonial Development: A Report of a Conference, London: British Film Institute.
Branch, D., 2009, Defeating Mau Mau, Creating Kenya: Counterinsurgency, Civil War, and Decolonization, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Burns, J., 2000, ‘Watching Africans watch films: theories of spectatorship in British Colonial Africa’, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 20 (2): 197–211.
Burns, J., 2002, Flickering Shadows: Cinema and Identity in Colonial Zimbabwe, Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
Diawara, M., 1987, ‘Sub-Saharan African film production: technological paternalism’, Jump Cut 32: 61–65.
Druick, Z., 2012, ‘At the margins of cinema history: mobile cinema in the British Empire’, Public 40: 119–125.
Elkins, C., 2005, Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya, New York, NY: Henry Holt Company.
Fanon, F. 1963, The Wretched of the Earth, New York: Grove Press.
Freire, P., 1968, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (trans. M.B. Ramos), New York: Seabury Press.
Githuku, N. K., 2015, Mau Mau Crucible of War: Statehood, National Identity, and Politics of Postcolonial Kenya, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Hondo, M., 1996, ‘What is Cinema for Us?’, in I. Bakari and C. Mbye, eds, African Experiences of Cinema, London: British Film Institute.
Kitching, G., 1980, Class and Economic Change in Kenya: The Making of an African Petite-Bourgeoisie, 1905–1970, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Koster, M. M., 2016, The Power of the Oath: Mau Mau Nationalism in Kenya, 1952–1960, Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.
Larkin, B., 2008, Signal and Noise: Media, Infrastructure, and Urban Culture in Nigeria, Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Maxon, R., 2011, Britain and Kenya’s Constitutions, 1950–1960, Amherst, NY: Cambria Press.
Mboya, T. 1963, ‘African socialism’, Transition 8: 17–19.
Morel, E. D., 1969, The Black Man’s Burden: The White Man in Africa from the Fifteenth Century to World War I, New York and London: Modern Reader.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, 1964, Weep Not, Child, Oxford: Macmillan.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Ngugi wa Mirii, 1982, I will Marry When I Want, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Ochieng’, W. R. and Ogot, B. A., eds, 1995, Decolonization and Independence in Kenya, 1940–93, Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
Parsons, N., 2004, The Kanye Cinema Experiment, 1944–1946, Web Publishers (1–16).
Rodney, W., 1972, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Washington, DC: Howard University Press.
Sellers, W., 1941, ‘The production of films for primitive people’, Journal of the British Kinematograph Society 10 (3): 104–13.
Smyth, R., 1983, ‘Movies and Mandarins: The Official Film and British Colonial Africa’, in J. Curran and V. Porter, eds, British Cinema History, NJ: Barnes & Noble Books.
Smyth, R., 2011, ‘Images of Empire on Shifting Sands: The Colonial Film Unit in West Africa in the Post-war Period’, in L. Grieveson and C. MacCabe, eds, Film and the End of Empire, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Thuku, H., 1970, Harry Thuku: An Autobiography, Nairobi: Oxford University Press.
Ukadike, F., 1994, Black African Cinema, Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.