Zoltan Gluck

This project is a study of Kenya’s War on terror, examining how security practices and counterterrorism are transforming cities, citizenship, and state power in Kenya. Since 1998 Kenya has experienced a number of terrorist attacks that have profoundly impacted the country, placing security at the center of national politics and transforming the very institutions of the Kenyan state. Historical and ethnographic chapters examine the colonial origins of counterterrorism, the cultural and political aftermath of terrorist attacks, and state transformation as police, activists, elites and NGOs navigate the social and spatial processes of the War on Terror. Using archival research, participant observation and in-depth interviews this project studies the broader security-led transformation of Kenyan society over the past two decades.