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A New Framework for the Analysis of Social Structures in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Inequality, Socio-cultural Differentiation and Social Structures in Africa

Part of the book series: Frontiers of Globalization ((FOG))

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Abstract

This chapter presents the new framework for social structure analysis beyond class applied for the case of Kenya. The analysis starts with the identification of different social situations, considering economic resources, access to social welfare and security, social needs and identity, and risk and vulnerability. Socio-cultural differentiation is described with seven milieus that cut across different income strata. The milieus are defined according to six dimensions (moral views, orientation towards socio-economic advancement, social scope of future aspirations, political activity, consumption and rural-urban links). The chapter ends with a consideration of the possible transfer of Kenyan social situations and milieus to other African societies, based on the wider empirical findings of the previous chapters.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As already explained in Chapter 7, footnote 14, we prefer the more neutral term “component” to the term “dimension” used by Hradil.

  2. 2.

    See website of the National Bureau of Statistics: https://www.knbs.or.ke and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2016, 2018).

  3. 3.

    Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2018, Table 8.2), amount in dollars, calculated with the exchange rate in 2016.

  4. 4.

    Own calculation based on Table 8.2 in Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2018).

  5. 5.

    Own calculation based on Tables 8.1 and 8.8 in Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2018).

  6. 6.

    See also footnote 8 in this chapter.

  7. 7.

    Another business-oriented minority is the “Somalis”. Like the “Asians”, they face prejudice. Their situation varies, because this group includes long-time Kenyan citizens and refugees who have come to Kenya because of the ongoing civil war in Somalia.

  8. 8.

    Earlier work (Neubert 2005, 2014) led to the development of a concept for the fieldwork conducted by Florian Stoll, and our joint application of the milieu concept to Kenya (Neubert 2016a, b, c; Neubert and Stoll 2015, 2018; Stoll 2016, 2017, 2018).

  9. 9.

    Studies on Kenya: Bechtle (2014), Hammerschmitt (2016), Kliemt (2017), Kroeker (2016, 2018), and Niechoj (2016), Voigt (2018), studies on Benin: Alber (2016b, 2018) and Häberlein (2018).

  10. 10.

    We have to keep in mind that a social situation is not given but is the result of the interplay between structure and individual agency.

  11. 11.

    The following paragraphs follow Neubert (2016a, 118f.).

  12. 12.

    The building blocks are: aim in life, social position, work (performance), image of society, family partnership, leisure, ideal, lifestyle.

  13. 13.

    This is more complicated for Muslims because burial must take place immediately after death, which conflicts with the need to transport the corpse to the home village.

  14. 14.

    For a first version of our building blocks, see Neubert and Stoll (2015).

  15. 15.

    Pentecostal churches in rural ethnically homogeneous areas still use the local language.

  16. 16.

    This may also lead to conflicts when the high standards are not fulfilled (Gez and Droz 2015).

  17. 17.

    For quite some time we overlooked this milieu. We first came across it in a study by one of our MA students whose findings did not match the milieus we had identified up to that time (Kliemt 2017).

  18. 18.

    Deborah James‘ study of members of charismatic churches in South Africa, including some references to Kenya, shows that members reflect on their new roles and may develop despite their faith also some distance to parts religious rhetoric of sermons (James 2019).

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    Dieter Neubert

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Neubert, D. (2019). A New Framework for the Analysis of Social Structures in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Inequality, Socio-cultural Differentiation and Social Structures in Africa. Frontiers of Globalization. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17111-7_8

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