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The Case of Female Sex Workers in Mombasa, Kenya View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by White Rose E-theses Online Limited agency in a neo-liberal world: the case of female sex workers in Mombasa, Kenya Egle Cesnulyte Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics and International Studies. University of Leeds, School of Politics and International Studies April, 2013 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2013 The University of Leeds and Egle Cesnulyte The right of Egle Cesnulyte to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Acknowledgments My interest of studying the sex industries in a political context was encouraged by Professor Cynthia Enloe, whose module of Women, Gender and Militarisation I was taking during my MSc studies at the University of Bristol. However, I was enlisted to attend these classes by an administrative mistake. I would really like to thank whoever made that mistake, because if not for it, I probably would have never embarked on the endeavour of doing a PhD and learning so much on my way. My experience at the University of Leeds was crucial for this thesis. First, I would like to thank my supervisors Jelke Boesten, Gabrielle Lynch and Gordon Crawford for their support, insightful comments and advice – I learned a lot from you and I feel that I have been very lucky to work with such an inspiring, wise and encouraging supervision team. Second, the financial support of a full POLIS scholarship (2009-2012), and grants by the British Institute in Eastern Africa (2010), and the Gilford Educational Trust (2010) have to be acknowledged – without this funding, my PhD would have been impossible to complete. The administrative support of Helen Philpott and Caroline Wise was also greatly important in making me feel at home in the department. Finally, my colleagues, who were with me during all the moments of the ‘fog and clarity’ cycle, have to be mentioned – thank you, Simonida, Faiz, Uer-Aree, Cemaliye and Terry! My sincere gratitude goes to women in Mombasa and Nairobi who agreed to speak to me and share their life stories – without your trust, patience with my questions, and courage this thesis could have never seen the light. People who work in the NGO sector, government institutions or the women’s movement in Kenya and found time in their schedules to speak to me have to be acknowledged as well. I am particularly indebted to Grace Achiengo Nyango, whose assistance during my fieldwork in Mombasa was invaluable; and to Peninah Mwangi who helped me navigate the sex work related NGO scene in Nairobi so well. The friendship, company and discussions with Edwina Lunani, Reynolds Richter, Margarita Dimova and Keren Weitzberg have been priceless since our time together in Kenya. Finally, I want to thank my family who always unconditionally support me: my mother Nijole, father Viktoras, and sister Giedre. It is my family that provided me with the foundation and skills that made this thesis possible. I am also lucky to have friends like Aiste and Egle who are always there for me – you are irreplaceable. Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to Stelios for encouraging me to start this adventure, for supporting me with his love, stimulating discussions and calmness throughout all these years; and for reading and commenting on various versions of this thesis. Abstract Neo-liberal practices based on economic theory and supported by appropriate discourses are explored in this thesis to show how these processes affect social, economic and patriarchal structures, and explore their gendered effects. The sex industries are analysed as an example to show how women who are in a disadvantaged position in society manoeuvre the socio-economic and patriarchal scene, ‘bargain with patriarchy’, and attempt to make a living or progress socially and economically through unconventional choices. This task is undertaken through the analysis of Mombasa self-identified sex workers’ life stories and narratives. Neo-liberal practice resulted in increased poverty and ruptures in social structures. Even though some women manage to manoeuvre the patriarchal and economic systems of Kenya to their own advantage through unorthodox choices (selling sex being one of them) and manage to change their initial disadvantaged position, many women are unsuccessful in this undertaking. An analysis of sex workers’ work strategies and plans for the future shows that women aim to capitalise on gender and economic inequalities that marginalise them in order to advance. In order to succeed in this endeavour, women have to find entrepreneurial ways to perform certain socially accepted gendered roles. Therefore, it will be argued that in a socio-economic system influenced by neo-liberalism that builds on gender inequality, the individuals who internalise neo-liberal logic can succeed in improving their initial disadvantaged position to some extent, but that such individual agency is limited because it fails to challenge socio-economic and patriarchal structures. Table of Contents List of acronyms .....................................................................................................................1 1. Introduction: Duality of neo-liberal character and sex work..........................................3 Focus of the research .............................................................................................................6 Neo-liberal global political economy............................................................................................6 Sex industries and sexualities....................................................................................................... 11 Linking neo-liberalism and the sex industries....................................................................... 17 Kenya ...................................................................................................................................................... 19 Research questions...............................................................................................................20 Methods and methodology ..................................................................................................22 Research location............................................................................................................................... 24 Primary data ........................................................................................................................................ 25 Secondary data.................................................................................................................................... 29 Ethical considerations..........................................................................................................30 Structure of thesis ................................................................................................................33 2. Political economy and social development in Kenya since independence ..................38 Kenyan political economy and social development, 1963 - 1980 ....................................40 Power, wealth, ethnicity and patronage................................................................................... 42 Agriculture............................................................................................................................................ 45 ‘Africanisation’ of the private sector.......................................................................................... 47 Socio-cultural change....................................................................................................................... 49 1980s: the transition............................................................................................................52 Kenya in structural adjustment and later neo-liberal policies .........................................55 Adjusting Kenyan economy and employment ....................................................................... 60 Social change........................................................................................................................................ 64 The current moment in Kenyan political economy ...........................................................68 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................................71 3. Neo-liberal practice, discourse and gender....................................................................73 Gender in contemporary Kenyan political economy .........................................................74 Masculinities and femininities of the neo-liberal order ....................................................81 Adjusting masculinities................................................................................................................... 81 The commodification, objectification and sexualisation of women.............................. 92 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................................99 4. Women, love, sex and money in a ‘situation
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