Transforming Conflict in the Hands and Hearts of Communities in Kenya: Understanding the Relevance of Amani Mashinani Model

Abstract

Media representation of ethnic conflicts in Africa constructs an image of a continent ridden with wars and violence. At the same time, prominence given to the Western intervention in conflicts in Africa leads to asymmetry of understanding about the role victims of violence play to improve their conditions. This chapter challenges macro-level frameworks about conceptions of ethnic conflict and peacebuilding by highlighting the work of Amani Mashinani (peace at grassroots) as a potential alternative model to transform conflict in North Rift Valley in Kenya. It appropriates peacebuilding as a practice of everyday life and explicates factors that explicitly account for understanding grassroots peacebuilding.