The Rise and Fall of Kenyan Entrepreneurs

Dr. Maike Voigt

doi:10.5771/9783748922780

Summary

This book analyses middle-class enterprises in Kenya with special regard to their founders’ social mobility. Using concrete events, individual biographies and in-depth empirical material, Maike Voigt demonstrates how the interplay of personal and familial characteristics with larger political and economic trends determines individual social mobility. Methodologically innovative, ethnographically sound and with analytical clarity, this study highlights the short-term changes, insecurity and opportunities inherent in entrepreneurs’ life courses. It is a thought-provoking contribution to empirical and conceptual debates on social mobility, entrepreneurship and the rise and fall of the middle classes in contemporary African societies and beyond.

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Bibliographic data

Publication year: 2021
Publication date: 07.07.2021
ISBN-Print: 978-3-8487-7878-2
ISBN-Online: 978-3-7489-2278-0
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Series: Politik und Gesellschaft in Afrika | Politics and Societies in Africa
Volume: 11
Language: English
Pages: 273
Product type: Book Titles

Titelei/Inhaltsverzeichnis No access Pages 1 - 14
1. Interlinkages of entrepreneurship, social mobility and the middle classes in Africa No access
2. A conceptual note on entrepreneurship in Africa No access
3. Kisumu as the research site No access
4. Outline of the thesis No access
1. The Development of Social Mobility Research No access
2. Social mobility through entrepreneurship No access
3. Overview of social mobility in Kenya No access
1. Trade in pre-colonial western Kenya No access
2. Development of a capitalist economy under colonial rule No access
3. The effects of Africanisation on the private sector No access
4. The Kenyan informal or jua kali sector No access
5. Structural adjustment programmes’ effects on the Kenyan business landscape No access
6. Economic recovery and the creation of an enterprise-friendly environment No access
1. The research process and sample selection No access
2. A mzungu in the field: Implications of foreignness for a research on social stratification No access
3. Ethnographic methods in entrepreneurship research No access
4. Grasping entrepreneurs’ daily routines through shadowing No access
5. Making social mobility visible in the biograph No access
1. Struggling to cover basic needs - The poor No access
2. Some extra money to spend - The middle classes No access
3. Everything is at your disposal - The rich No access
4. Determinants of social class in Kisumu: housing, transport and nutritional choices No access
1. Introduction: Turning points and transitions No access
2. «Those days we used to have money»: From Africanisation to structural adjustment No access
3. «Finding a way not to be idle»: Economic recovery & entrepreneurship promotion No access
4. «Everything was gone and I had to start again, struggling»: Post-election violence No access
1. Upward mobility through entrepreneurship No access
2. Stability No access
3. Downward mobility No access
1. «If my father was alive, I’m sure all my siblings would have gone to school»: Loss of the father No access
2. «After the divorce, I just decided to stay alone and focus on my business»: Marriage, Divorce and Widowhood No access
1. Motives for business creation No access
2. Education, employment and entrepreneurship No access
3. Support within the family network No access
4. Conclusion: Trajectories of entrepreneurs’ life courses No access
1. … entrepreneurship No access
2. … social mobility No access
3. … turning points No access
References No access Pages 262 - 273