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Media, Ethnicity, and Electoral Conflicts in Kenya examines the interplay between the media, ethnicity, and electoral conflicts in Kenya. The author argues that politicians in Kenya and other deeply divided societies in Africa use mainstream and digital media to weaponize ethnicity as they invoke issues of belonging, inclusion, and exclusion.

This chapter examines if the increased political discussions on social media especially Twitter and Face Book before and after the March 4th, 2013 general elections in Kenya translated to a more robust Alternative Public Sphere that broke the hegemony of the traditional media as Agenda setters or an alternative space for the audience to vent out their frustrations and grievances about the election. In the last most contentious elections in 2007, in Kenya, both new and old media were blamed for fueling ethnic hate speech which culminated into the 2007/ 2008 post election violence. It is argued in this chapter that although voting patterns in the March 2013 elections were clearly along ethnic lines just like in 2007, there was no physical post election violence like was the case in 2008. What was clearly evident was Ethnic hate speech before and after the general elections on social media networks. We therefore observe that unlike in 2008 where ethnic violence was fought in the streets, in the 2013 general elections, the 'Ethnic War was Networked'. The chapter analyses the content of some of the messages send on Twitter and Face Book to argue that social media platforms only acted as alternative spaces for Kenyans to fight out their ethnic political wars and not alternative public spheres for constructive political deliberation. The chapter concludes by observing that social media networks in the 2013 general elections in Kenya acted as 'Opiums of the Masses' only serving the function of keeping Kenya 'quiet and peaceful' to prevent a repeat of the 2008 post election violence, but not alternative public spheres to facilitate constructive political deliberation. ; En este artículo se analiza si el aumento de las discusiones políticas sobre las redes sociales, especialmente Twitter y Facebook, antes y después de las elecciones generales en Kenia del 04 de marzo de 2013, se tradujeron en una esfera pública alternativa sólida que rompiera con la hegemonía de los medios de comunicación tradicionales en tanto que ...

"This book explores the role and place of popular, traditional and digital media platforms in the mediatization, representation and performance of various conflicts and peacebuilding interventions in the African context. The role of the media in conflict is often depicted as either 'good' (as symbolized by peace journalism) and 'bad' (as exemplified by war journalism), but this book moves beyond this binary to highlight the 'in-between' role that the media often plays in times of conflict. The volume does not only focus on the relationship between mass media, conflict and peacebuilding processes but it broadens its scope by critically analysing the dynamic and emergent roles of popular and digital media platforms in a continent where the semi-literate and oral communities still rely heavily on popular communication platforms to get news and information. Whilst social media platforms have been hailed for their assumed democratic and digital dividends, this book does not only focus on these positive aspects but also shines a light on dark forms of participation which are fuelling racial, gender, ethnic, political and religious conflicts in highly polarized and stratified societies. Highlighting the many ways in which traditional, digital and popular media can be used to both escalate conflicts and promote peacebuilding, this study will be a useful resource for students, researchers and civil society groups interested in peace and conflict studies, journalism and media studies in different contexts within Africa"--

"This book examines how African states can build the institutional capacity to better prevent, manage and cope with the new security challenges posed by violent religious extremism. Despite the evidence that violent religious extremism is exacerbated by underlying social, political, economic and governance factors, many states have focused their efforts only on reactive and coercive response strategies, overlooking more long-term measures. This comparative study of Nigeria and Kenya reflects on why insurgency in Kenya has not escalated to full blown terrorism as it has with Boko Haram in Nigeria, in spite of the similarities in relatively weak institutions of governance and colonial legacies across the two countries. The book interrogates the policy and institutional responses that have been put in place in both countries to address security challenges, and the extent of their efficacy in light of the intricate networks of politics, governance, corruption, poverty and violence and the relative fragility of state institutions. The authors highlight the areas of convergence and divergence in institutional capacities and recommend policies to enhance the capacity of institutions to manage violent religious extremism. This book will be of interest to scholars of African politics, Security, Peace studies and Terrorism"--