Communicating cultural identity in the management of forest related conflicts in Eastern Mau, Kenya

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Raphael Kweyu
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21358

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Communicating cultural identity in the

management of forest related conflicts

in Eastern Mau, Kenya

Raphael Kweyu

Geography Department, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

Correspondence

Raphael Kweyu, Geography Department,

Kenyatta University, P.O Box 43844,

00100 Nairobi, Kenya.

Email: kweyu.raphael@ku.ac.ke

Funding information

Danish International Development

Agency (DANIDA)

Abstract

Conflict behavior is thought to result from attitudes.

Attitude which is a tendency to favor or disfavor is

thought to be a function of perceptions. Perceptions are

influenced by our cultural identity. In Kenya, different

communities have been involved in violent identity

conflicts which peaked in 2007/2008 during the post-

election violence. The role of politics and natural

resource competitions as sources for conflicts in Kenya

has been widely exposed. This paper enriches the dis-

course on manifestation of conflict by an in-depth anal-

ysis of how cultural identity is communicated drawing

examples from communities residing adjacent to East-

ern Mau forests complex in Kenya. The main research

question is that, since inter-group conflict involves

identity competition, how are attitudes expressed in

this context? Qualitative data sources were obtained for

this study through key informant interviews and Focus

Group Discussions. Data analysis was through

thematization, content and linguistic analysis. Results

from this study reveal that conflicts involving different

ethnic communities have escalated over time. The

study further reveals that attitudes are expressed

through figures of communication such as stereotypes

and nicknames, metaphors, and naming of places. Con-

flicts in Eastern Mau seemed to persist, vacillating

Received: 5 November 2021 Revised: 28 July 2022 Accepted: 8 August 2022

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21358

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2022;40:249–269. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 249

between periods of relative peace and periods of escala-

tion. Mediation has been proposed in recent literature

as a sustainable solution for intractable conflicts. This

paper suggests that more research is needed on tradi-

tional dispute resolution in Eastern Mau with a view to

understanding how mediation could be integrated in

the existing formal conflict resolution in the study area

and beyond.

KEYWORDS

cultural identity, environmental communication, ethnic conflict,

forest conflict

1|INTRODUCTION

The forest resource can be understood through a systems approach as being composed of both

the biotic and abiotic components. However, since forests have a reciprocal interaction with

people, a third component has to be factored when analyzing forest ecosystems, that is, culture.

Sustainable forest management involves regulating the interactions that exist among the three

components. The biotic and abiotic encompass the biophysical properties of the forest such as

tree species, soils, and climate that characterize a formation. Forest institutions have conven-

tionally been involved in ensuring the overall good health of forest through silvicultural prac-

tices enhanced through research and training. There is need to integrate the cultural systems

within which the resource is situated. Culture, is a meta-system that is composed of, and shaped

by different sub-systems such as politics, economy and identity. Since human activities have

been implicated in majority of environmental problems, it is important that studies on natural

resource management incorporate a cultural analysis of the values, beliefs, practices, and often

tacit assumptions which underlie human-environmental relations (Araia & Chirwa, 2019;

Chunhabunyatip et al., 2018; Head et al., 2005).

Cultural systems can be viewed as ideologies or world views that shape our identity. Sire

(2004) defines a world view as “a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can

be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially

true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsis-

tently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live

and move and have our being.”(p. 122). People committed to the same world view often form

an identity group (Rubin et al., 1994). Identities form the lenses from which we view and

respond to reality around us (Sire, 2004). It is possible however, to have multiple identities or

world views within a single individual, which explains why sometimes people's behavior is

inconsistent (Schaller & Neuberg, 2008). Each identity is invoked conveniently depending on

the circumstances surrounding the individual (Schaller & Neuberg, 2008).

The history of conflicts in Eastern Mau and other regions in Kenya has been linked to land

tensions among communities (Di Matteo, 2017). Several studies have given an account on

how land in Kenya was compulsorily acquired during pre-colonial (before 1920) and colonial

(1920–1963) times and distributed among the white settlers at the expense of native Africans

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