Pokot Young Pastoralists at the Crossroads - Tradition, Modernity and Land Tenure Transformations in East Pokot, Kenya

Abstract

East Pokot, in North-Western Kenya, falls under the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) of the Sub-Saharan region. Due to the yearly prolonged dry seasons, pastoralism has traditionally guaranteed the most reliable source of livelihood. Marginalised and excluded since colonial times from the map of economic policies, East Pokot has only recently been integrated with the rest of the country by large-scale infrastructural and technological investments and services. In recent decades, the region has been transformed by population growth, changes in the ecosystem, progressive diffusion of modernity and the ensuing land tenure transformations. Pokot pastoralists who populate the region are often portrayed as backward, violent, and hostile to modernisation. This study investigates how young Pokot pastoralists assess tradition, modernity and land tenure changes. The investigation was conducted during nine weeks of fieldwork in a confined area in central East Pokot. The study adopts qualitative research methods and considers differences in gender, access to education and family background, while prioritising young people with a pastoralist background. The theoretical framework is informed by Bourdieu’s theory of practice and Foucault’s approach to power and power-knowledge. The findings disrupt the view of pastoralist resistance to modernity and self-exclusion, highlighting not only young pastoralists’ welcoming attitude towards technology, but also their fragmented perceptions and practices towards tradition, modernity, the shifting economic system and land tenure. The findings also unearth the emergence of new elites and expose misconceptions and stigmatisation of pastoralism, which surpass the contingency of the local context.