Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the motivations and strategies of young, male gang members in a Nairobi ghetto to join and/or leave ethnic-based gangs during moments of political violence. I take a close look at their agency and aim to move beyond the agency/structure dichotomy.

Paper long abstract:

Since late 1990s Mathare Valley, Nairobi, have witnessed the rise and fall of ethnic-based gangs such as the Mungiki (with a strong Kikuyu profile) and the Taliban (with a strong Luo profile). The emergence of these gangs occurred in the wake of mounting political violence which led to casting them as 'Big Men' militias. Instead of viewing the young men (and women) involved simply as 'thugs for hire', I take a close look at their agency and aim to move beyond the agency/structure dichotomy. In this paper I explore their personal motivations, strategies and legitimisations that I argue are intimately linked to processes of identification and directed at present needs. A good case in point is the alcohol brewing gang 'Sare'. This gang became divided during the 2007/2008 post-election violence when some of its members joined the Taliban while others were attacked by members from the Taliban. Interestingly, after the dust had settled alleged victims and perpetrators re-joined their old gang Sare. The momentary split of Sare also did not only follow alleged ethnic positions since 'Luo' gang members of Sare were also attacked by the Taliban. I show how and why many young men in Mathare Valley joined and/or left ethnic-based gangs during particular moments of violence and why they almost always returned to their former gang afterwards. I thus aim to study the groupness of gangs as variable and contingent, and debunk the role of ethnicity as sole determinant in processes of mobilisation into political violence.