Books by Paul Ocobock
In twentieth-century Kenya, age and gender were powerful cultural and political forces that anima... more In twentieth-century Kenya, age and gender were powerful cultural and political forces that animated household and generational relationships. They also shaped East Africans’ contact with and influence on emergent colonial and global ideas about age and masculinity. Kenyan men and boys came of age achieving their manhood through changing rites of passage and access to new outlets such as town life, crime, anticolonial violence, and nationalism. And as they did, the colonial government appropriated masculinity and maturity as means of statecraft and control. In An Uncertain Age, Paul Ocobock positions age and gender at the heart of everyday life and state building in Kenya. He excavates in unprecedented ways how the evolving concept of “youth” motivated and energized colonial power and the movements against it, exploring the masculinities boys and young men debated and performed as they crisscrossed the colony in search of wages or took the Mau Mau oath. Yet he also considers how British officials’ own ideas about masculinity shaped not only young African men’s ideas about manhood but the very nature of colonial rule. An Uncertain Age joins a growing number of histories that have begun to break down monolithic male identities to push the historiographies of Kenya and empire into new territory.
The connections among vagrancy and human labor, mobility, status, and behavior have placed vagran... more The connections among vagrancy and human labor, mobility, status, and behavior have placed vagrancy at the crossroads of a multitude of political, social, and economic processes. As such, vagrancy and homelessness have been used to examine a vast array of processes from the development and impact of the market economy, migration of labor, modernization of states and the construction of imperial enterprises, formation of sub-cultures among the poor, rapidity of urbanization, and responses to poverty through charity, welfare, and prosecution. Yet studies of vagrancy and homelessness have been divided by regional and temporal contexts. This book is the first to consider the shared global heritage of vagrancy laws, homelessness, and the historical processes they accompanied. This collection of essays attempts to bridge some of the geographic, temporal and disciplinary divides which have discouraged a world history of vagrancy and homelessness. By juxtaposing these histories, the authors do not argue for uniformity of vagrancy’s form and function among nations and across centuries, but explore the development of vagrancy as a common response to manage poverty, labor, and social norms, as well as how this strategy changed over time and adapted to regional peculiarities. This ambitious collection straddles eight centuries, five continents, and several academic disciplines. The authors offer fresh perspectives on old historiographical debates or new research in fields that have yet to fully investigate vagrancy and homelessness. Ultimately, the volume seeks to enrich the scholarship on vagrancy and homelessness and highlight its application or absence throughout time and around the globe.
Journal Articles by Paul Ocobock
Essays by Paul Ocobock
Conference Presentations by Paul Ocobock
I want to begin by introducing you to Wamumu youth camp [slide 2] and the 1,800 young men detaine... more I want to begin by introducing you to Wamumu youth camp [slide 2] and the 1,800 young men detained there from 1955 to 1958. The young men you see in this photo are Kikuyu, the largest ethnic group in Kenya, ranging in age from 8 to 18 years. They sit like boy scouts, cross-legged with perfect posture in starch-white uniforms. They stand together in collective effort to hold aloft the Union Jack. As depicted, they are a straight and sturdy edifice of triumphant British imperial rule.
Teaching Documents by Paul Ocobock
Description: An indomitable African queen holding court before a host of men on bended knee; a yo... more Description: An indomitable African queen holding court before a host of men on bended knee; a young boy bracing himself to bravely face the initiation knife; a teenage girl possessed by spirits restoring her people's faith; a migrant laborer hundreds of miles from home longing for the girl he left behind; a prostitute selling her body to pay for her children's school fees – these are but a few tales of African men and women whose lives we will explore in this course. Gender, generation, and sexuality are powerful lens through which we can examine the past. We will investigate the new possibilities and challenges that arose between and among men and women during the era of the Atlantic slave trade, imposition of European colonial rule, path to independence, and triumph of globalization. During these critical moments in the history of Africa, we will consider how men and women defined and achieved their masculinity, femininity, and maturity. We will explore these histories through primary historical sources, novels by African authors, and scholarship by the most innovative historians in the discipline.
In this course, we will explore the formations of empires and the everyday lives of colonized peo... more In this course, we will explore the formations of empires and the everyday lives of colonized peoples from the late nineteenth century to the present. The geographic span will be wide, covering European, American, and Soviet empires and their colonies. We pursue their imperial power as it stretched across the globe, observe local, colonial contests over that power, and witness their collapse and renovation in the late twentieth century. Our goals for the course are to familiarize one another with the variety of approaches historians have taken to studying imperialism and colonization: from cultural histories of gender, sexuality, and race; to cultural and intellectual histories of the high and low politics of rule; to economic histories of the investment strategies fueling conquests and the unfree markets that followed. We will also consider the leading methodological approaches to the problem of empire and colonialism; these include archival research and oral histories – among others. Assignments: 1. Attendance and Participation (40%): It's simple really, we expect everyone to attend class, complete the assigned reading, and come prepared with thoughtful ideas, criticisms and questions. We expect each of you to contribute regularly in class. We allow no unexcused absences in a graduate level course. Of course, excused absences are a different matter. If you have to miss class for a valid reason, please email. 2. Working with Methods Paper (20%): We will hand out a collection of colonial documents we pulled from archives in Kenya, Britain, and the United States. The documents will be paired purposefully, revealing the parallel ways the British and
This course is an introduction to the history of the peoples of Africa from the late 19th Century... more This course is an introduction to the history of the peoples of Africa from the late 19th Century to the present day. During the term, we will consider the ways in which Africans shaped and were shaped by the transformative events of the period. In the late 19th Century, European powers conquered and colonized much of the continent. Over the next sixty years, Africans lived and died under the yoke of European rule; some resisted, others collaborated, but all influenced the nature of colonialism and its eventual collapse. By the 1960s, most Africans were free of foreign rule. Since then the peoples of Africa have endeavored to achieve political stability, navigate Cold War politics, harness development aid, and adapt to a globalizing economy. In recent years, they have succumbed to brutal wars and endured devastating famines, but they have also inspired the world with their triumph over apartheid, emerging vibrant democracies, rich cultures, and deep history. In this class, we will identify, problematize, and debate these major themes in Modern African history. We also will make use of a variety of texts, from historical documents and classic academic works to African art, film, and fiction.
This course is an introduction to the history of the peoples of Africa to around 1800.We will inv... more This course is an introduction to the history of the peoples of Africa to around 1800.We will investigate how they tamed the frontier, innovated agriculture, forged iron, professeddynamic faiths, built legendary cities, sold goods in distant ports, and founded powerfulkingdoms. In the midst of these accomplishments, Europeans figure merely as visitors to theAfrican continent. We will also consider the lives and labors of slaves and slave-owners inAfrica. As African communities raided for and traded in slaves with one another, they also soldthem to foreign merchants along the coasts, supplying a global slave trade. As purveyors, purchasers or captives themselves the peoples of Africa played a critical role in a global slavetrade – devastating societies, expanding empires and creating a Diaspora of tens of millionsscattered across the world bound by common heritage. These are some of the themes we willidentify, discuss and debate in this course. We will make use of a variety of texts, such ashistorical documents, classic academic works, as well as African art, film and fiction
The year is 1952. An uprising erupts across the fertile highlands and ridges of central Kenya. Re... more The year is 1952. An uprising erupts across the fertile highlands and ridges of central Kenya. Rebels attack symbols of the British colonial regime: torching police stations, murdering European settlers, massacring African neighbors loyal to the British. They demand an end to colonial rule and restoration of African freedom. Aghast, the British respond with overwhelming force, killing tens of thousands of rebels and interning 150,000 men, women, and children in detention camps. This was the Mau Mau war. Mau Mau, its origins, and aftermaths are some of the most studied and controversial events in the history of Modern Africa. In this course, we will study the anatomy of the rebellion, conditions that compelled the rebels to fight, and the British effort to preserve colonial rule. We will also investigate the historians who study Mau Mau, their methods, and their findings. Through our study of Mau Mau, we will familiarize ourselves with the historian’s craft, how a people’s past is remembered, researched, written, and contested.
This required seminar is designed to introduce first year PhD students to the theoretical and pra... more This required seminar is designed to introduce first year PhD students to the theoretical and practical foundations of historical method. Our coverage is not comprehensive, but we will familiarize ourselves with some of the innovative and diverse approaches that have shaped historical work over the past several decades. As we read these works, we will consider how and why historians investigate, interpret, and write about the past as well as contest one another‟s findings. Together we will expose some of the underlying, unspoken assumptions and preoccupations that we bring with us to and which persist in the discipline. Students are required to complete several written and oral assignments to hone their critical thinking, writing, and presentation skills. Students will also begin consulting with their academic advisors to prepare for class assignments and think about their future research, especially their not-so-distant choice of a dissertation topic. The seminar culminates in a historiographical paper, written in consultation with their academic advisor, ideally oriented toward areas of future research.
This course introduces graduate students to the history of Modern Africa, from the nineteenth cen... more This course introduces graduate students to the history of Modern Africa, from the nineteenth century to the present. First, we will familiarize ourselves with major historical processes and themes such as the decline of African slave trading; European conquest of the continent; everyday lives Africans negotiating and contesting colonial rule; and struggles of independent Africa for political stability and economic security. Second, we will explore the history of the field itself and the major historiographical debates that have emerged since the mid-twentieth century. We will problematize classic works, read new, innovative research, as well as explore areas where our knowledge or interpretations remain unsatisfying. Finally, we will experiment with a few methodologies and source materials used by historians of Africa
Papers by Paul Ocobock
Social Science Research Network, 2015
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Books by Paul Ocobock
Journal Articles by Paul Ocobock
Essays by Paul Ocobock
Conference Presentations by Paul Ocobock
Teaching Documents by Paul Ocobock
Papers by Paul Ocobock