In the Interests of Community: Archdeacon Walter Owen and the Issue of Communal Labour in Colonial Kenya, 1921-30

Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

Volumn 32, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 19-40

  Okia, Opolot ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 1042275505     PISSN: 03086534     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/03086530410001705504     Document Type: Review

References (132)

1. Sharon Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya: Capitalism and African Response (London, 1982), 81; Anthony Clayton and Donald Savage, Government and Labour in Kenya (London, 1974), 139.
2. Sharon Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya: Capitalism and African Response (London, 1982), 81; Anthony Clayton and Donald Savage, Government and Labour in Kenya (London, 1974), 139.
3. Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya, 40.
4. Communal forced labour was forced labour justified by the state in the interests of African communities.
5. Clayton and Savage, Government and Labour in Kenya, 139.
6. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
7. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
8. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
9. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
10. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
11. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
12. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
13. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
14. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
15. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
16. Ibid.; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya (Nairobi, 1975); Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya; Marjorie Dilley, British Policy in Kenya Colony (New York, 1966); Raymond Buell, The Native Problem in Africa (New York, 1928); Gavin Kitching, Class and Economic Change in Kenya (New Haven, 1980); Robert Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya: The Kamba, Kikuyu and Maasai (Princeton, 1976); J. Forbes Munro, Colonial Rule and The Kamba: Social Change in the Kenya Highlands 1889-1939 (Oxford, 1975); Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation, Coercion and the Colonial State: The Development of the Labour Control System in Kenya, 1919-1929', in Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, Unhappy Valley, Conflict in Kenya and Africa, Book One: State and Class (Athens, 1992), 101-26; Robert Maxon, Struggle For Kenya (London and Toronto, 1993); Bruce Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya (Athens, 1990).
17. Berman and Lonsdale, 'Crises of Accumulation', 106.
18. Elspeth Huxley, White Man's Country: Lord Delamere and The Making of Kenya (New York, 1968), 215.
19. 'East African Natives', East African Standard, 24 Dec. 1920.
20. Articulation has been used as an epistemological tool by some scholars. See, for example, Geoffrey Kay, Development and Underdevelopment (New York, 1975); Goran Hyden, Beyond Ujamaa in Tanzania: Underdevelopment and the Uncaptured Peasantry (Berkeley, 1980).
21. Articulation has been used as an epistemological tool by some scholars. See, for example, Geoffrey Kay, Development and Underdevelopment (New York, 1975); Goran Hyden, Beyond Ujamaa in Tanzania: Underdevelopment and the Uncaptured Peasantry (Berkeley, 1980).
22. Paul Zeleza, 'Dependent Capitalism and the Making of the Kenyan Working Class During Colonialism', Ph.D. dissertation, Dalhousie University, 1982, 66.
23. Maxon, Struggle for Kenya, 19. For more on the role of the state, the CO and policy in Kenya, see also Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya; Ronald Hyam, 'The Colonial Office Mind 1900-1914', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 8 (Oct. 1979), 30-55; Bernard Porter, Critics of Empire: British Radical Attitudes towards Colonialism in Africa, 1895-1914 (London, 1969); Cosmo Parkinson, The Colonial Office from Within (London, 1947). E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'The Colonial Government: The Settlers and the "Trust" Principle in Kenya', Transafrican Journal of History, 2 (1972), 94-113.
24. Maxon, Struggle for Kenya, 19. For more on the role of the state, the CO and policy in Kenya, see also Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya; Ronald Hyam, 'The Colonial Office Mind 1900-1914', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 8 (Oct. 1979), 30-55; Bernard Porter, Critics of Empire: British Radical Attitudes towards Colonialism in Africa, 1895-1914 (London, 1969); Cosmo Parkinson, The Colonial Office from Within (London, 1947). E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'The Colonial Government: The Settlers and the "Trust" Principle in Kenya', Transafrican Journal of History, 2 (1972), 94-113.
25. Maxon, Struggle for Kenya, 19. For more on the role of the state, the CO and policy in Kenya, see also Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya; Ronald Hyam, 'The Colonial Office Mind 1900-1914', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 8 (Oct. 1979), 30-55; Bernard Porter, Critics of Empire: British Radical Attitudes towards Colonialism in Africa, 1895-1914 (London, 1969); Cosmo Parkinson, The Colonial Office from Within (London, 1947). E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'The Colonial Government: The Settlers and the "Trust" Principle in Kenya', Transafrican Journal of History, 2 (1972), 94-113.
26. Maxon, Struggle for Kenya, 19. For more on the role of the state, the CO and policy in Kenya, see also Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya; Ronald Hyam, 'The Colonial Office Mind 1900-1914', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 8 (Oct. 1979), 30-55; Bernard Porter, Critics of Empire: British Radical Attitudes towards Colonialism in Africa, 1895-1914 (London, 1969); Cosmo Parkinson, The Colonial Office from Within (London, 1947). E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'The Colonial Government: The Settlers and the "Trust" Principle in Kenya', Transafrican Journal of History, 2 (1972), 94-113.
27. Maxon, Struggle for Kenya, 19. For more on the role of the state, the CO and policy in Kenya, see also Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya; Ronald Hyam, 'The Colonial Office Mind 1900-1914', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 8 (Oct. 1979), 30-55; Bernard Porter, Critics of Empire: British Radical Attitudes towards Colonialism in Africa, 1895-1914 (London, 1969); Cosmo Parkinson, The Colonial Office from Within (London, 1947). E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'The Colonial Government: The Settlers and the "Trust" Principle in Kenya', Transafrican Journal of History, 2 (1972), 94-113.
28. Maxon, Struggle for Kenya, 19. For more on the role of the state, the CO and policy in Kenya, see also Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya; Ronald Hyam, 'The Colonial Office Mind 1900-1914', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 8 (Oct. 1979), 30-55; Bernard Porter, Critics of Empire: British Radical Attitudes towards Colonialism in Africa, 1895-1914 (London, 1969); Cosmo Parkinson, The Colonial Office from Within (London, 1947). E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'The Colonial Government: The Settlers and the "Trust" Principle in Kenya', Transafrican Journal of History, 2 (1972), 94-113.
29. Maxon, Struggle for Kenya, 19.
30. Ibid., 20.
31. For this reason, Berman and Lonsdale see the state in Kenya as a process: 'Coping With Contradictions: The Development of the Colonial State in Kenya', Journal of African History, 20 (1979), 492.
32. Van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya, 113-15.
33. Ibid., 115.
34. Stichter, Migrant Labour in Kenya, 37. Stichter states that forced labour in the service of peripheral capitalism resembled pre-capitalist labour which societies would normally give to a conquering nation, the so-called tributary labour.
35. Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister to Governor Sir Joseph Byrne, 14 Dec. 1931, CO 533/408, The National Archives (formerly Public Record Office), London.
36. 'Memorandum RE: A Meeting On The Labour Question', 18 Sept. 1918, CO 533/273.
37. Maxon, Struggle for Kenya, 199.
38. Lord Olivier, White Capital Coloured Labour (London, 1929), 241-42.
39. Van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya, 113-15.
40. O.F. Watkins to Archdeacon Owen, 29 March 1921, Box G/141, Papers of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society and Aborigines Protection Society, Rhodes House Library, Oxford.
41. Statements from Secretaries of State Lewis Harcourt in 1914 and Lord Crewe in 1908 categorically disavowed forced labour for private individuals. Harcourt compared it to slavery.
42. Tignor, The Colonial Transformation of Kenya, 165; Memorandum by John Ainsworth on Native Labour Circular, CO 533/233.
43. See Geoffrey Hodges, The Carrier Corps: Military Labour in the East African Campaign, 1914-1918 (New York, 1986); Donald Savage and J. Forbes Munro, 'Carrier Corps Recruitment in British East Africa, 1914-1918', Journal of African History, 7, 2 (1966), 313-42.
44. See Geoffrey Hodges, The Carrier Corps: Military Labour in the East African Campaign, 1914-1918 (New York, 1986); Donald Savage and J. Forbes Munro, 'Carrier Corps Recruitment in British East Africa, 1914-1918', Journal of African History, 7, 2 (1966), 313-42.
45. This later became a seminal policy paper, Parliamentary Command Paper 1509.
46. Clayton and Savage, Government and Labour, 117.
47. In theory, this meant that the state in Kenya was to provide information for prospective employers as opposed to actually procuring the labour for them.
48. Maxon, Struggle for Kenya, 197.
49. This despatch became Parliamentary Command Paper 2464 of 1925.
50. With the exception of Paul Zeleza and R.M.A. van Zwanenberg this point has not been adequately illuminated by scholars. Paul Zeleza, 'Labour Coercion and Migration', in Abebe Zageye and Shubi Shero (eds.), Forced Labour and Migration (New York, 1989). Zeleza sees the reduction in the abuses of forced labour as a growing awareness of the weakness of forced labour itself as a tool for procuring labour and inculcating state hegemony. Van Zwanenberg sees the recourse to communal labour by the colonial state after 1921 as a way of avoiding raised eyebrows in the metropole since using communal labour did not require approval by the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya, 163.
51. With the exception of Paul Zeleza and R.M.A. van Zwanenberg this point has not been adequately illuminated by scholars. Paul Zeleza, 'Labour Coercion and Migration', in Abebe Zageye and Shubi Shero (eds.), Forced Labour and Migration (New York, 1989). Zeleza sees the reduction in the abuses of forced labour as a growing awareness of the weakness of forced labour itself as a tool for procuring labour and inculcating state hegemony. Van Zwanenberg sees the recourse to communal labour by the colonial state after 1921 as a way of avoiding raised eyebrows in the metropole since using communal labour did not require approval by the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Van Zwanenberg, Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya, 163.
52. For more on this missionary role in Kenya, see Roland Oliver, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London, 1967); Leon Spencer, 'Christianity and Colonial Protest: Perceptions of W. E. Owen, Archdeacon of Kavirondo', Journal of Religion in Africa, 13, 1 (1982), 47-60; Robert Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (London, 1978); A.J. Temu, British Protestant Missions (London, 1972); David Sandgren, Christianity and the Kikuyu (New York, 2000); Isaria Kimambo and Thomas Spear (eds.), East African Expressions of Christianity (Athens, 1999).
53. For more on this missionary role in Kenya, see Roland Oliver, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London, 1967); Leon Spencer, 'Christianity and Colonial Protest: Perceptions of W. E. Owen, Archdeacon of Kavirondo', Journal of Religion in Africa, 13, 1 (1982), 47-60; Robert Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (London, 1978); A.J. Temu, British Protestant Missions (London, 1972); David Sandgren, Christianity and the Kikuyu (New York, 2000); Isaria Kimambo and Thomas Spear (eds.), East African Expressions of Christianity (Athens, 1999).
54. For more on this missionary role in Kenya, see Roland Oliver, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London, 1967); Leon Spencer, 'Christianity and Colonial Protest: Perceptions of W. E. Owen, Archdeacon of Kavirondo', Journal of Religion in Africa, 13, 1 (1982), 47-60; Robert Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (London, 1978); A.J. Temu, British Protestant Missions (London, 1972); David Sandgren, Christianity and the Kikuyu (New York, 2000); Isaria Kimambo and Thomas Spear (eds.), East African Expressions of Christianity (Athens, 1999).
55. For more on this missionary role in Kenya, see Roland Oliver, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London, 1967); Leon Spencer, 'Christianity and Colonial Protest: Perceptions of W. E. Owen, Archdeacon of Kavirondo', Journal of Religion in Africa, 13, 1 (1982), 47-60; Robert Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (London, 1978); A.J. Temu, British Protestant Missions (London, 1972); David Sandgren, Christianity and the Kikuyu (New York, 2000); Isaria Kimambo and Thomas Spear (eds.), East African Expressions of Christianity (Athens, 1999).
56. For more on this missionary role in Kenya, see Roland Oliver, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London, 1967); Leon Spencer, 'Christianity and Colonial Protest: Perceptions of W. E. Owen, Archdeacon of Kavirondo', Journal of Religion in Africa, 13, 1 (1982), 47-60; Robert Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (London, 1978); A.J. Temu, British Protestant Missions (London, 1972); David Sandgren, Christianity and the Kikuyu (New York, 2000); Isaria Kimambo and Thomas Spear (eds.), East African Expressions of Christianity (Athens, 1999).
57. For more on this missionary role in Kenya, see Roland Oliver, The Missionary Factor in East Africa (London, 1967); Leon Spencer, 'Christianity and Colonial Protest: Perceptions of W. E. Owen, Archdeacon of Kavirondo', Journal of Religion in Africa, 13, 1 (1982), 47-60; Robert Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities in East Africa (London, 1978); A.J. Temu, British Protestant Missions (London, 1972); David Sandgren, Christianity and the Kikuyu (New York, 2000); Isaria Kimambo and Thomas Spear (eds.), East African Expressions of Christianity (Athens, 1999).
58. Quoted in Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities, 106.
59. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'A Portrait of the Missionaries in Kenya', 6.
60. Quoted in Gordon Hewitt, The Problem of Success: A History of The Church Mission Society, 1910-1942 (London, 1971), 163.
61. J.W. Arthur was an advocate for African rights and actually served as the first representative for Africans in the colonial Legislative Council in 1924. H.D. Hooper was also involved in addressing injustices towards Africans. He was highly involved in the Northey forced labour controversy and served as John Oldham's contact in Kenya. Leakey was involved in defending African land rights among the Kikuyu at Kiambu. Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities, 107.
62. Van Zwanenberg, 'The Missionary Conscience and Colonial Injustice', 72.
63. Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities, 107. For example, Hooper maintained contacts with Dr Norman Leys and Macgregor Ross, head of Public Works (1905-23). Both Leys and Ross were administrative officials who were also prominent critics of administrative policy. For more on Leys and Ross, see W. Macgregor Ross, Kenya From Within: A Short Political History (London, 1968); John W. Cell (ed.), By Kenya Possessed: The Correspondence of Norman Leys and J. H. Oldham 1918-1926 (Chicago, 1976).
64. Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities, 107. For example, Hooper maintained contacts with Dr Norman Leys and Macgregor Ross, head of Public Works (1905-23). Both Leys and Ross were administrative officials who were also prominent critics of administrative policy. For more on Leys and Ross, see W. Macgregor Ross, Kenya From Within: A Short Political History (London, 1968); John W. Cell (ed.), By Kenya Possessed: The Correspondence of Norman Leys and J. H. Oldham 1918-1926 (Chicago, 1976).
65. Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities, 107. For example, Hooper maintained contacts with Dr Norman Leys and Macgregor Ross, head of Public Works (1905-23). Both Leys and Ross were administrative officials who were also prominent critics of administrative policy. For more on Leys and Ross, see W. Macgregor Ross, Kenya From Within: A Short Political History (London, 1968); John W. Cell (ed.), By Kenya Possessed: The Correspondence of Norman Leys and J. H. Oldham 1918-1926 (Chicago, 1976).
66. Bethwell Ogot, 'British Administration in the Central Nyanza District of Kenya, 1900-1960', Journal of African History, 4, 2 (1963), 256.
67. Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities, 88.
68. Nancy Murray, 'Archdeacon W.E. Owen: Missionary as Propagandist', International Journal of African Historical Studies, 15, 4 (1982), 665.
69. Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities, 9.
70. Kavirondo is actually a pejorative term used during the colonial period in western Kenya to apply to the region in Nyanza province that encompassed Luo and Luyia peoples. It is used here simply for historical consistency. Owen actually served first at Maseno then at Ng'iya until his death in 1945.
71. For more on Owen's life, see Murray, 'Archdeacon W.E. Owen'; Leon Spencer, 'Toward Africans as Defenders of Their Own Interests: The Translation of Laws into Swahili in Kenya, 1920-1927', Kenya Historical Review, 3, 1 (1975), 47-54; E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'A Portrait of the Missionaries in Kenya Before 1939', Kenya Historical Review, 1, 1 (1973), 1-14; Leon Spencer, 'Christian Missions and African Interests in Kenya, 1905-1924', Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1974; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, 'The Missionary Conscience and Colonial Injustice: The Life and Times of W.E. Owen of Nyanza', in Aloo Ojuka and William Ocheing (eds.), Politics and Leadership in Africa (Nairobi and Kampala, 1975).
72. For more on Owen's life, see Murray, 'Archdeacon W.E. Owen'; Leon Spencer, 'Toward Africans as Defenders of Their Own Interests: The Translation of Laws into Swahili in Kenya, 1920-1927', Kenya Historical Review, 3, 1 (1975), 47-54; E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'A Portrait of the Missionaries in Kenya Before 1939', Kenya Historical Review, 1, 1 (1973), 1-14; Leon Spencer, 'Christian Missions and African Interests in Kenya, 1905-1924', Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1974; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, 'The Missionary Conscience and Colonial Injustice: The Life and Times of W.E. Owen of Nyanza', in Aloo Ojuka and William Ocheing (eds.), Politics and Leadership in Africa (Nairobi and Kampala, 1975).
73. For more on Owen's life, see Murray, 'Archdeacon W.E. Owen'; Leon Spencer, 'Toward Africans as Defenders of Their Own Interests: The Translation of Laws into Swahili in Kenya, 1920-1927', Kenya Historical Review, 3, 1 (1975), 47-54; E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'A Portrait of the Missionaries in Kenya Before 1939', Kenya Historical Review, 1, 1 (1973), 1-14; Leon Spencer, 'Christian Missions and African Interests in Kenya, 1905-1924', Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1974; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, 'The Missionary Conscience and Colonial Injustice: The Life and Times of W.E. Owen of Nyanza', in Aloo Ojuka and William Ocheing (eds.), Politics and Leadership in Africa (Nairobi and Kampala, 1975).
74. For more on Owen's life, see Murray, 'Archdeacon W.E. Owen'; Leon Spencer, 'Toward Africans as Defenders of Their Own Interests: The Translation of Laws into Swahili in Kenya, 1920-1927', Kenya Historical Review, 3, 1 (1975), 47-54; E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'A Portrait of the Missionaries in Kenya Before 1939', Kenya Historical Review, 1, 1 (1973), 1-14; Leon Spencer, 'Christian Missions and African Interests in Kenya, 1905-1924', Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1974; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, 'The Missionary Conscience and Colonial Injustice: The Life and Times of W.E. Owen of Nyanza', in Aloo Ojuka and William Ocheing (eds.), Politics and Leadership in Africa (Nairobi and Kampala, 1975).
75. For more on Owen's life, see Murray, 'Archdeacon W.E. Owen'; Leon Spencer, 'Toward Africans as Defenders of Their Own Interests: The Translation of Laws into Swahili in Kenya, 1920-1927', Kenya Historical Review, 3, 1 (1975), 47-54; E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo, 'A Portrait of the Missionaries in Kenya Before 1939', Kenya Historical Review, 1, 1 (1973), 1-14; Leon Spencer, 'Christian Missions and African Interests in Kenya, 1905-1924', Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University, 1974; R.M.A. van Zwanenberg, 'The Missionary Conscience and Colonial Injustice: The Life and Times of W.E. Owen of Nyanza', in Aloo Ojuka and William Ocheing (eds.), Politics and Leadership in Africa (Nairobi and Kampala, 1975).
76. John Lonsdale, 'Political Associations in Western Kenya', in Ali Mazrui and Robert Rotberg (eds.), Protest and Power in Black Africa (New York, 1970), 608.
77. Strayer, The Making of Mission Communities, 107.
78. Lonsdale, 'Political Associations in Western Kenya', 608.
79. Ibid., 613, note 73.
80. Van Zwanenberg, 'The Missionary Conscience and Colonial Injustice', 72.
81. Murray, 'Archdeacon W.E. Owen', 653.
82. The Defence of Kenya came out of a special committee set up by the settler Convention of Associations in 1921 to counter attacks against Kenya's labour policy. Owen not only signed the report of March 1921 but was instrumental in drafting it. Spencer, 'Christian Missions and African Interests in Kenya', 56.
83. Oldham to Steel-Maitland, 15 July 1921, International Missionary Council/Conference of British Missionary Societies, School of Oriental and African Studies, London.
84. Lonsdale, 'Political Associations in Western Kenya', 607.
85. As Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale have written, the colonial state in Kenya embodied many contradictions as it tried to shepherd the articulation of capitalism with pre-capitalist social formations. In its attempt to maintain 'relative autonomy' the state mediated two opposing modes of production (settler and peasant) within Kenya. Outside Kenya, the state had to balance the desires of the Colonial Office and metropolitan capital. The state did not act mainly in the interests of metropolitan capital or solely on behalf of the European settlers. It had to manoeuvre between autonomy and dependency in regard to its constituencies. As a result, the relative autonomy of the colonial state was continually contested on many levels by differing groups, hence the contradictions of colonial rule. Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, 'Coping with Contradictions: The Crises of the Colonial State in Kenya, 1895-1914', in idem, Unhappy Valley, 77-100.
86. It was only used one other time in 1927 for the suppression of locusts.
87. F.H. McKerrick to Owen, 2 Dec. 1920, Church Missionary Society Archives, Owen Unofficial Papers, File: 'Forced Labour 1920-27', University of Birmingham.
88. C. Barton to Owen, 7 Aug. 1924, ibid.
89. Senior Commissioner, Nyanza Province to Owen, 29 Aug. 1924, ibid.
90. Owen to A. Champion, 12 June 1929, ibid.
91. Champion to Owen, 18 June 1929, ibid.
92. Ibid. Although not a member of the ASAPS, Owen was in contact with the organisation and fed them a number of cases which they publicised during the late 1920s and 1930s. For example, Harris to Owen, 9 July 1929, ibid.
93. Ibid. Although not a member of the ASAPS, Owen was in contact with the organisation and fed them a number of cases which they publicised during the late 1920s and 1930s. For example, Harris to Owen, 9 July 1929, ibid.
94. William Murtland to Owen, 6 Nov. 1920, ibid.
95. Notes made by Owen, 7 Nov. 1920, ibid.
96. Murtland to Owen, 8 Jan. 1921, 'copy of circular of introduction', ibid.
97. It must be kept in mind, however, that before Churchill's despatch in 1921, DCs recruiting for private individuals would have been following their interpretation of administrative policy regarding coercion of African labour.
98. Report of Sub Committee of Representative Council of Alliance of Missionary Societies, Church Missionary Society Archives, Owen Unofficial Papers, File: 'Forced Labour 1920-27', University of Birmingham.
99. I b i d.
100. A.C.C. Parkinson to John Harris, 29 May 1929, ibid.
101. 'Kenya an Episode in Forced Labour', Manchester Guardian, April 1929.
102. Owen to District Commissioner North Kavirondo, 6 May 1929, CMS Archives, File: 'Forced Labour, 1920-27', Owen Unofficial Papers, University of Birmingham.
103. Owen to the Editor, East African Standard, 7 Feb. 1930.
104. Van Zwanenberg, 'The Missionary Conscience and Colonial Injustice', 73, 74.
105. Harris to Owen, 19 July 1929, CMS Archives, Owen Unofficial Papers, File: 'Forced Labour, 1920-27', University of Birmingham.
106. Grigg to Passfield, 28 Sept. 1929, CO 533/386/12.
107. K. Baxter to Owen, 21 Dec. 1929, CMS Archives, Owen Unofficial Papers, File: 'Forced Labour, 1920-27', University of Birmingham.
108. 'Report of the Sub Committee of Representative Council of Alliance', ibid.
109. Gideon Oketch to Owen, 13 Aug. 1927, ibid.
110. Owen to DC South Kavirondo, 25 Aug. 1927, ibid.
111. E.H. Anderson to Owen, 27 Aug. 1927, ibid.
112. Senior Commissioner Nyanza to Owen, 30 Aug. 1927, ibid.
113. Arthur Champion to Owen, 18 June 1929, ibid.
114. Bo Samba to Owen, 6 Nov. 1927, ibid.
115. Tamberson to Owen, 7 Nov. 1927, ibid.
116. Monson to Passfield, 9 July 1929, CO 533/386.
117. Minute by A.C.C. Parkinson, 13 Dec. 1930, CO 533/404.
118. Heywood to Grigg, 1 Feb. 1930, CMS Archives, Owen Unofficial Papers, File: 'Forced Labour 1920-37', University of Birmingham.
119. W. Cash to Owen, 11 March 1930, ibid.
120. Hooper to Owen, 12 March 1930, ibid.
121. W. Pitt Pitts to Owen, 7 Oct. 1930, ibid.
122. Owen to Pitt Pitts, 9 Oct. 1930, ibid.
123. Owen to Senior Commissioner, Kisumu, 9 July 1924, ibid.
124. Owen to Secretary of Convention of Associations, 5 July 1924, ibid.
125. Owen to Oldham, 15 July 1925, CMS Archives, Owen Unofficial Papers, University of Birmingham.
126. Owen to DC at Kisumu, 18 July 1924, ibid.
127. 'Archdeacon Owen and Child Labour', CO 874/12.
128. Secretary of State, Lord Passfield, to Governor of Kenya, 16 May 1931, CO 533/408.
129. Berman, Control and Crisis in Colonial Kenya, 54.
130. Ibid., 9.
131. Minute by W. Bottomley, 30 Nov. 1929, CO 533/386.
132. Byrne to Passfield, 4 Aug. 1931, CO 533/408.