Who will defend Kenya's intellectual space?

Graduates Hugging

Kenya: If you go through any project or dissertation written by a Kenyan, in Kenya or elsewhere, what strikes you first is that most of the scholars cited are non-Kenyans, mostly from America and Europe. It does not matter the topic.

The assumption is that ideas from such sources are more credible, and citing them makes you a credible scholar. We love citing such scholars, irrespective of how schooled we are. Given a choice between citing a popular proverb in your community and a scholar you have never met, you will go for the other scholar. Yet context really matters.