Knowing Ethnicity: The Politics of Classification and Pluralism in Kenya by Samantha Balaton-Chrimes

Kenyan citizens routinely refer to the forty-two tribes of Kenya as if they were part of an official list. And yet, despite this conventional wisdom, there is no such list. The ethnic categories that are treated as a given are, in fact, malleable and change over time. Where then does the knowledge of ethnicity come from and how does the state produce it? In Knowing Ethnicity: The Politics of Classification and Pluralism in Kenya, Samantha Balaton-Chrimes offers an account of ethnic categorization in Kenya since colonial rule to the present. Instead of imagined set lists and clear criteria, Balaton-Chrimes describes the Kenyan state's approach to ethnicity as “cultivated vagueness” (11). The main strength of the book is the detailed history of how ethnicity has been used by the state in maps, censuses, and other official documents. Chapter 2 provides a rich account of mapping ethnic territories in Kenya over time, and chapter 3 retraces how ethnicity has been used in censuses. Chapter 4 focuses on ethnic codes, identification cards, and official registration; and chapter 5 turns to ethnic minorities and marginalized communities. Together, these empirical chapters paint a rich portrait of how ethnicity has been treated by the Kenyan state.