Matatu

Drive the streets of Nairobi, and you are sure to see many matatus—colorful minibuses that transport huge numbers of people around the city. Once ramshackle affairs held together with duct tape and wire, matatus today are name-brand vehicles maxed out with aftermarket detailing. They can be stately...

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מחבר ראשי: Mutongi, Kenda
פורמט: Online
שפה:אנגלית
יצא לאור: University of Chicago Press 2023
נושאים:
גישה מקוונת:ONIX_20230608_9780226471426_4
תגים: הוספת תג
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author Mutongi, Kenda
author_browse Mutongi, Kenda
author_facet Mutongi, Kenda
author_sort Mutongi, Kenda
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Drive the streets of Nairobi, and you are sure to see many matatus—colorful minibuses that transport huge numbers of people around the city. Once ramshackle affairs held together with duct tape and wire, matatus today are name-brand vehicles maxed out with aftermarket detailing. They can be stately black or extravagantly colored, sporting names, slogans, or entire tableaus, with airbrushed portraits of everyone from Kanye West to Barack Obama. In this richly interdisciplinary book, Kenda Mutongi explores the history of the matatu from the 1960s to the present. As Mutongi shows, matatus offer a window onto the socioeconomic and political conditions of late-twentieth-century Africa. In their diversity of idiosyncratic designs, they reflect multiple and divergent aspects of Kenyan life—including, for example, rapid urbanization, organized crime, entrepreneurship, social insecurity, the transition to democracy, and popular culture—at once embodying Kenya’s staggering social problems as well as the bright promises of its future. Offering a shining model of interdisciplinary analysis, Mutongi mixes historical, ethnographic, literary, linguistic, and economic approaches to tell the story of the matatu and explore the entrepreneurial aesthetics of the postcolonial world.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1006422025-07-17T10:00:59Z Matatu Mutongi, Kenda east african history mass transit kenya africa public transportation ethnic studies nairobi matatu matatus colorful minibus ramshackle vehicles aftermarket detailing taxis kanye west barack obama interdisciplinary research 1960s 20th century socioeconomic political conditions diversity idiosyncratic designs kenyan life rapid urbanization organized crime entrepreneurship social insecurity transition to democracy society popular culture thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHH African history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WG Transport: general interest::WGC Road and motor vehicles: general interest::WGCF Buses, trams and commercial vehicles: general interest thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSD Urban communities thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHH African history thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WG Transport: general interest::WGC Road and motor vehicles: general interest::WGCF Buses, trams and commercial vehicles: general interest thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSD Urban communities Drive the streets of Nairobi, and you are sure to see many matatus—colorful minibuses that transport huge numbers of people around the city. Once ramshackle affairs held together with duct tape and wire, matatus today are name-brand vehicles maxed out with aftermarket detailing. They can be stately black or extravagantly colored, sporting names, slogans, or entire tableaus, with airbrushed portraits of everyone from Kanye West to Barack Obama. In this richly interdisciplinary book, Kenda Mutongi explores the history of the matatu from the 1960s to the present. As Mutongi shows, matatus offer a window onto the socioeconomic and political conditions of late-twentieth-century Africa. In their diversity of idiosyncratic designs, they reflect multiple and divergent aspects of Kenyan life—including, for example, rapid urbanization, organized crime, entrepreneurship, social insecurity, the transition to democracy, and popular culture—at once embodying Kenya’s staggering social problems as well as the bright promises of its future. Offering a shining model of interdisciplinary analysis, Mutongi mixes historical, ethnographic, literary, linguistic, and economic approaches to tell the story of the matatu and explore the entrepreneurial aesthetics of the postcolonial world. 2023-06-09T04:05:25Z 2023-06-09T04:05:25Z 2023-06-08T16:43:27Z 2017 book ONIX_20230608_9780226471426_4 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/63441 9780226471426 9780226130866 9780226471396 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/100642 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/63441/1/9780226471426.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/63441/1/9780226471426.pdf University of Chicago Press University of Chicago Press 10.7208/chicago/9780226471426.001.0001 10.7208/chicago/9780226471426.001.0001 decd55ad-cee8-4380-ad0e-0ead8a496f4d 9780226471426 9780226130866 9780226471396 University of Chicago Press 352 Chicago open access
spellingShingle east african history
mass transit
kenya
africa
public transportation
ethnic studies
nairobi
matatu
matatus
colorful minibus
ramshackle
vehicles
aftermarket detailing
taxis
kanye west
barack obama
interdisciplinary research
1960s
20th century
socioeconomic
political conditions
diversity
idiosyncratic designs
kenyan life
rapid urbanization
organized crime
entrepreneurship
social insecurity
transition to democracy
society
popular culture
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHH African history
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WG Transport: general interest::WGC Road and motor vehicles: general interest::WGCF Buses, trams and commercial vehicles: general interest
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSD Urban communities
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHH African history
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WG Transport: general interest::WGC Road and motor vehicles: general interest::WGCF Buses, trams and commercial vehicles: general interest
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSD Urban communities
Mutongi, Kenda
Matatu
title Matatu
title_full Matatu
title_fullStr Matatu
title_full_unstemmed Matatu
title_short Matatu
title_sort matatu
topic east african history
mass transit
kenya
africa
public transportation
ethnic studies
nairobi
matatu
matatus
colorful minibus
ramshackle
vehicles
aftermarket detailing
taxis
kanye west
barack obama
interdisciplinary research
1960s
20th century
socioeconomic
political conditions
diversity
idiosyncratic designs
kenyan life
rapid urbanization
organized crime
entrepreneurship
social insecurity
transition to democracy
society
popular culture
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHH African history
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WG Transport: general interest::WGC Road and motor vehicles: general interest::WGCF Buses, trams and commercial vehicles: general interest
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSD Urban communities
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHH African history
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WG Transport: general interest::WGC Road and motor vehicles: general interest::WGCF Buses, trams and commercial vehicles: general interest
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSD Urban communities
topic_facet east african history
mass transit
kenya
africa
public transportation
ethnic studies
nairobi
matatu
matatus
colorful minibus
ramshackle
vehicles
aftermarket detailing
taxis
kanye west
barack obama
interdisciplinary research
1960s
20th century
socioeconomic
political conditions
diversity
idiosyncratic designs
kenyan life
rapid urbanization
organized crime
entrepreneurship
social insecurity
transition to democracy
society
popular culture
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHH African history
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WG Transport: general interest::WGC Road and motor vehicles: general interest::WGCF Buses, trams and commercial vehicles: general interest
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSD Urban communities
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHH African history
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WG Transport: general interest::WGC Road and motor vehicles: general interest::WGCF Buses, trams and commercial vehicles: general interest
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSD Urban communities
url ONIX_20230608_9780226471426_4
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