Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Honors Thesis (Open Access)

Department

Colby College. Global Studies Program

Advisor(s)

Laura Seay

Second Advisor

Chandra Bhimull

Abstract

What happens when two distinct cultures come into contact? During colonialism, this resulted in the practice of "othering," or the separation of colonial identity, portrayed as positive, modern and good, from colonized identity, illustrated as backward, barbaric and sinful. In this paper, I discuss the ways that Homi K. Bhabha's concept of "hybridity," or the ways that the intersection of these two spheres caused a third "hybrid" culture to arise, manifests in contemporary development practice. Based on a month of field research in Kisumu, Kenya this past January, I discuss the ways that these "hybrids" have formed at the intersection of Western-funded development NGOs and the communities that they try to help, and the potential of these hybrid systems when conceptualizing future development. I focus specifically on language, banking, land and health.

Keywords

development, hybridity, post-colonial studies, Homi K. Bhabha, Kenya, Luo

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