Brett L. Shadle
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Introduction: The souls of white folk
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I lay out the basic argument and the theoretical bases of the book. In order to appreciate the nature of settler colonialism in Kenya – and its impact on the state and on Africans – I argue that we must inquire into how settlers envisioned themselves, their foundational ideas about the settler project, and their (real and imagined) relations with Africans, the state, and one another. I argue that white settlement: (1) was based on particular ideas about white supremacy, whiteness, and civilization; (2) was emotionally enriched through notions of paternalism and trusteeship; (3) appeared constantly under threat by Africans, colonial officials, the judiciary, and fellow settlers; and (4) was shored up daily through rituals of prestige, deference, humiliation, and violence. Through this understanding of settlers’ worldview, we can then better understanding of black peril, which represented the inversion of the emotional and ideological material out of which white settlement was made. I finish the chapter with a historical outline of early colonial Kenya.

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The souls of white folk

White Settlers in Kenya, 1900s–1920s

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