Paper short abstract:

This presentation will foreground various framings of new (and existing) divisions, alliances and conflicts within and between ‘communities’ in light of the Lake Turkana Wind Power project and political dynamics of Samburu and Marsabit Counties, northern Kenya.

Paper long abstract:

The Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project, soon to be Africa's largest wind-farm, is under construction in Marsabit County, northern Kenya. Samburu, Turkana and Rendile pastoralists have grazed livestock in this landscape for generations. This project has come at a time of, and is connected with, regional devolution of political power and capital in Kenya, which is influencing the dynamics of power and power seeking in the area.

The LTWP project and political forces are not homogeneous entities oppressing homogeneous communities. Instead new (and existing) divisions, alliances and conflicts are framed in various ways as (re)emerging within and between 'communities'. Identities, lineages, land rights and aspirations are brought to the fore, guide and are re-created (through) people's pragmatic interactions with various framings and world views in light of the LTWP project and political processes. This presentation will foreground these issues helping to develop an understanding of how lives of people from different communities in the region are undergoing continual negotiation and why the LTWP project and political dynamics of the area are perceived as liberating by some and oppressive by others.