Anita Plummer (Howard University)

Anita Plummer, assistant professor at the Department of African Studies at Howard University, will discuss how in recent decades, Kenya has witnessed profound changes in its local economic, cultural and environmental landscapes resulting from its interactions with diverse actors from China.

This talk examines these micronarratives, the ideas beneath them, and the resulting discourse on Kenya’s engagements with China. It details the interactions of non-elite Kenyans within contested political spaces as they understand, deliberate, argue, and respond to the policies of Chinese and Kenyan state agents, developing discourses that allow them to challenge power and enact change.