Pokot female body art identifies a woman’s beauty, husband, and social rank among the Pokot community through color, pattern, and mass. In the last sixty years, as a result of Kenya’s entrance into the global economy, Pokot women have turned a “traditional” art form into a commodity, creating a product for Western tourists that, in turn, provides Pokot women with a means to earn income that is less readily under male control. Pokot women consciously create beadwork that alludes to the “Idea of Africa,” while also conforming to Western standards of “colonial chic.” The result is a body art that visualizes a harmonious interaction between “exotic” and “modern.” This thesis argues that with the successful integration of beadwork into the global market, Pokot women have strategically identified an alternative to their traditional, gender-related power constraints and challenged historical constructions of Pokot gender identity.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xix, 395 p. : maps. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 381-395).

In this paper, I put to test Homer-Dixon’s theory which suggest that Environmental resource scarcity, can singly or in collaboration with other factors such as lack of local institutions and poverty work to produce violence due to competition. I start by analyzing a case study of Pokot-Turkana Conflict from 1969-1984. Using available literature, I discuss various motives of raiding by these two groups. And to further test Homer-Dixon’s theory, I analyze a non-violence case study on the Ethiopia-Somali region where agro-pastoralist in the Yarer and Daketa valley cooperate with visiting pastoralists during droughts. The leading question is, Given that both of these case studies take place in areas prone to scarcity of resources and both residents have access to illegal firearms and lack government control, why then are the Pokot and Turkana fighting and raiding each other, while the residents of Ethiopia- Somali region share and cooperate during droughts?

Research on aging in low income countries tends to overlook socio-cultural dimensions, including the significance of change. Because countries like Kenya are expected to witness a demographic shift in coming years, and because different forms of change will place new pressures on existing resources during the same timeframe, there is a need to bridge this gap. This study therefore grapples with the following question: How is change shaping the characteristics and needs of Kenya‘s aging population? This thesis adopts a mixed methods approach informed by critical gerontology and life course perspectives to examine the aging experiences of Pokot elders living in Marich Pass, north western Kenya, in face of multi-scalar changes. Results highlight the challenges and opportunities created by change, and illuminate a need to develop resources to support informal caregivers, to buttress existing formal supports, and to develop additional formal supports to address the unique needs of Pokot elders.

Zugl.: Hohenheim, Univ., Diss., 2005

Univ., Diss.--Hohenheim, 2005.