Ngecha: A Kenyan Village in a Time of Rapid Social Change

Abstract

Ngecha: A Kenyan Village in a Time of Rapid Social Change. Edited Carolyn Pope Edwards and Beatrice Blyth Whiting. Lincoln, Nebr. and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. Pp. 336. $60.00/£45.95. Africanist scholars are known for applying multidisciplinary approaches to the research and teaching of Africa, and Ngecha: A Kenyan Village in a Time of Rapid Social Change epitomizes the usefulness of such an approach. The authors of this study offer a blend of history, ethnography, anthropology, sociology, educational studies, and gender studies in a form accessible to scholars and students across a wide range of disciplines. This multidisciplinary study is further enhanced by the unique richness and depth that develops out of long-term research projects. Research for Ngecha began in the late 1960s when the rural Kenyan village of Ngecha was selected to be part of a wider scale study on child development in East and West Africa. Scholars involved in the project came from both Kenyan and U.S. universities and represent a variety of social science fields. Many of the chapters were written as collaborative pieces, and each chapter, though useful independent of one another, are woven together to form a surprisingly consistent and cohesive narrative and analysis. The first chapter "Background and Contexts" explains how the project was conceived and implemented. Chapters 2 and 3, "The Village and Its Families" and "The Historical Stage," give background on Ngecha and introduce readers to the families involved in the study. Chapters 3 through 7 explode with ethnographic material on a wide range of issues reflected in the chapter titles: "Women as Agents of Social Change," "Changing Concepts of the Good Child and Good Mothering," "The Teaching of Values Old and New," and "Aging and Elderhood." The text ends with a focus on contemporary Ngecha in Chapters 8 and 9, "The University as Gateway to a Complex World" and "Ngecha Today." Ngecha is an incredibly rich contribution to African studies research, and scholars from all disciplines should find value in the text. Although the research was conducted under the guise of a social science project focused on child development, the scope of this text is immense. Research began in 1968, just five years after Kenyan independence. This propitious timing allowed the researchers a first hand view of the transition from colony to modern, independent nation. Fortunately for the reader, the researchers took advantage of the uniqueness of this time period to look not just at child development, but at the changing cultural and social scene of a rural community as it adapted to the transforming national economy and postcolonial society. As the individual chapters intertwine, a localized narrative and analysis of change emerges and the depth and breadth of this impact is obvious. …