9 - In the Presence of Fear

Summary

Violence has long been a feature of the exercise and contestation of rule in Kenya. This chapter explores how publics reflect the threat and presence of public violence. In the early 2010s, violence, both online and on the streets, became increasingly frequent and present. Throughout early 2014, there were repeated clashes between Muslim youth and security forces, and between street hawkers and the county government in the city. Chapter 9 asks if and how experiences of violence either defended or threatened publics. Violence was, in many ways, silencing. Still, acts of violence and the fear of violence did not simply silence debate. Public discussion on Facebook transgressed boundaries, showing how the issues that were beyond the scope of the street parliaments were present online, bringing emotion and more intimate concerns into public discussion. At the same time, in opening up discussion to consider these acts of violence, Facebook gave rise to new threat to open and plural discussion in the form of personal insult and attacks.