On 14 October 2019, Bramwel Namtala Matui successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled 'Collective Memory, Inter-ethnic interactions: the Politics of Becoming and Being ‘Sabaot’ in Kenya'
In his thesis, Bramwel shed light on the role of collective memory in underpinning ‘Sabaot’ politics of identity in three recent time periods: 1944-1963, 1964-2008 and 2008-2018
He examined each of these three periods from a constructivist perspective, in order to acquire better understanding of who the Sabaot are. Other questions addressed include:
- Why has the Sabaot community had violent conflicts with its neighbours?
- Why has the community become embroiled in bloody intra-ethnic violence in recent years?
His findings show that the negotiation of ethnonyms involves performative acts of resistance to imposed ethnic identity labels. These acts of resistance have produced both unity and fracturing of identities among and within Sabaot communities.
Photos and video of the defence
Slideshow of photographs taken during the defence
