Gabrielle Lynch, I Say to You: Ethnic Politics and the Kalenjin in Kenya‪.‬

Gabrielle Lynch, I Say to You: Ethnic Politics and the Kalenjin in Kenya. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. 283 pp. This account of the ongoing importance of ethnic affiliation in contemporary Kenyan political life begins with the proposition that ethnic identities are often recent constructs, but nonetheless enjoy a seemingly primordial and natural appeal. Gabrielle Lynch describes how their potential to unite and divide depends on contextually discernable categories of people based on assumed commonalities and differences in histories and cultures. In today's globalized world, ethnic identities enjoy recognition through cultural and peoples' rights and specially designed institutional frameworks. In multi-party electoral politics, ethnic identities can be mobilized by political leaders, educated elites, local elders, and urban and rural residents to promote and defend socioeconomic and political interests. But there is also concern about the potential for the sense of ethnic difference to activate or endorse violent atrocities against the "other." Fueled by ethnic-politicking and opportunism, Kenya's post-election violence in 2008 led to the death of 1300 people and displaced well over half a million.