Schmidt, Mario (2017). 'Disordered surroundings': money and socio-economic exclusion in Western Kenya. Africa, 87 (2). S. 278 - 300. CAMBRIDGE: CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS. ISSN 1750-0184
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
This article explores relations between ways of experiencing socio-economic disorder, strategies on how to deal with it, and monetary classifications that symbolize these ways and strategies. It assumes that we can learn something from the fact that the concept of pesa makech (bitter money') has been replaced with the much more diffuse notion of pesa marach (bad money') in Western Kenya during the last twenty-five years. This shift in how negative forms' of money are discursively marked indexes a change in the way in which the people of Kaleko, a small market centre in Western Kenya, conceptualize the disorder of their surroundings. Instead of interpreting disorder as an effect of events taking place inside their sphere of influence, residents of Kaleko now predominantly situate the cause of disorder in actions of external actors that are perceived as uncontrollable: the economy', money itself, politicians, members of other ethnic groups and untrustworthy Luo. This necessarily changes the ways in which disorder is tackled: while pesa makech's bitterness could be resolved by sorting out' (rieyo) the homestead's disorder, nowadays people employ other ways that aim at resolving disorder: upscaling rieyo's potential to the Kenyan nation; struggling' (chandre) through disorder; and relativizing rieyo's applicability. Resume Cet article explore les liens entre les modes d'experience du desordre socioeconomique, les strategies pour y faire face, et les classifications monetaires qui symbolisent ces modes et strategies. Il suppose que l'on peut apprendre quelque chose du fait que le concept de pesa makech (<< argent amere >>) a ete remplace par la notion bien plus diffuse de pesa marach (<< mauvais argent >>) dans l'Ouest du Kenya au cours des vingt-cinq dernieres annees. Ce changement dans la maniere d'utiliser des << formes negatives >> d'argent comme marqueurs discursifs indique un changement dans la maniere dont les habitants de Kaleko, une petite ville de marche de l'Ouest du Kenya, conceptualisent le desordre de leur environnement. Au lieu d'interpreter le desordre comme l'effet d'evenements survenant au sein de leur sphere d'influence, les residents de Kaleko situent aujourd'hui principalement la cause du desordre dans l'action de facteurs exterieurs percus comme incontrolables : l'<< economie >>, l'argent lui-meme, les politiciens, les membres d'autres groupes ethniques et les Luo, peu dignes de confiance. Ceci change necessairement la facon de faire face au desordre : la oU il etait possible de resoudre l'amertume du pesa makech en << rangeant >> (rieyo) le desordre du foyer, on emploie aujourd'hui autres moyens de resoudre le desordre : appliquer le potentiel du rieyo a l'echelle de la nation kenyane ; << se debattre >> (chandre) a travers le desordre ; et relativiser l'applicabilite du rieyo.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
| Creators: |
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| URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-232926 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1017/S0001972016000954 | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Africa | ||||||||
| Volume: | 87 | ||||||||
| Number: | 2 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | S. 278 - 300 | ||||||||
| Date: | 2017 | ||||||||
| Publisher: | CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS | ||||||||
| Place of Publication: | CAMBRIDGE | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 1750-0184 | ||||||||
| Language: | English | ||||||||
| Faculty: | Unspecified | ||||||||
| Divisions: | Unspecified | ||||||||
| Subjects: | no entry | ||||||||
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
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| Refereed: | Yes | ||||||||
| URI: | http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/23292 |
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