The Political Economy of Self-Help: Kenya's “Harambee” Institutes of Technology

This article explores the neo-Gramscian concept of hegemony by investigating what the author refers to as multiple layers of hegemony existing and interacting with one another. Moreover, an empirical analysis of the South African Communist Party's (SACP's) role in the post-apartheid political landscape will be conducted in order to elucidate the key theoretical points under consideration. The article suggests that there are at least three relatively distinct layers, or forms, of hegemony that influence the post-apartheid political struggles of the SACP: global, national, and organizational. Engaging with the notion of hegemony in this manner, the author seeks to more clearly understand and explain the case study at hand, and also begins a conversation regarding the theoretical implications of engaging with the concept of hegemony in this manner.     

Authoritarian leaders and multiparty elections in Africa: How foreign donors help to keep Kenya's Daniel arap Moi in power

This article argues that prior accounts of Moi and KANU's re-election in Kenya's 1992 and 1997 polls overemphasise divisions within the opposition and underestimate the role of international actors. Drawing on interviews with central players and internal donor documents, the author demonstrates that aid donors played a central part not only in initially advancing the cause of multipartyism but subsequently also, on several occasions, actively impeding further democratisation. Donors twice knowingly endorsed unfair elections (including suppressing evidence of their illegitimacy) and repeatedly undermined domestic efforts to secure far-reaching political reforms, which were a prerequisite for an opposition victory and a full transition to democracy. In the face of anti-regime popular mobilisation, donors' primary concern appeared to be the avoidance of any path that could lead to a breakdown of the political and economic order, even if this meant legitimising and prolonging the regime's authoritarian rule.