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Gender Equality vs ‘Morality’: The Erosion of Gender Agendas in Kenya

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journal contribution
posted on 2024-09-05, 21:31 authored by Phil Erick Otieno, Alfred Makonjio Makabira
This article seeks to interpret the recent erosion of gender equality agendas in Kenya through a lens of anti‑gender pushback, or patriarchal backlash. Since 2013, Kenyan governments have increasingly been appealing to citizens’ emotions through apparently ‘sound’ discourse, citing simple de‑contextualised narratives that resonate with many people, such as ‘family values’ and ‘Kenyan moral codes’. Gender equality – and policies and praxis to advance this – is increasingly framed as ‘non-African’, with laws, policies, and practices focused upon gender justice depicted as destructive of the ‘African family’, underscored by a particular framing of religion and morality. By including a broader understanding of the diverse manifestations of backlash within the Kenyan context, this article focuses on how notions of morality are mobilised by a range of implicated actors – government, politicians, media, and repressive religious forces – to undermine policies, laws, and discourse that seek to further gender justice in Kenya.

Funding

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

History

Publisher

Institute of Development Studies

Citation

Otieno, P.E. and Makabira, A.M. (2024) 'Gender Equality vs "Morality": The Erosion of Gender Agendas in Kenya', IDS Bulletin 55.1: 117–28, DOI: 10.19088/1968-2024.110

Series

IDS Bulletin 55.1

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  • VoR (Version of Record)

IDS Item Types

Article

Copyright holder

Institute of Development Studies

Country

Kenya

Language

en

IDS team

Power and Popular Politics

Project identifier

Default project::e4b8632d-62dd-4f31-9936-43860ac26f9a::600

Identifier ISSN

1759-5436

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    Volume 55. Issue 1: Understanding Gender Backlash: Southern Perspectives

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