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Kenya Between Giants: Dimensions of Cultural Power

Wighagen, Malin LU and Belachew, Esther LU (2025) STVK04 20251
Department of Political Science
Abstract
China’s and the EU’s presence in Africa is regularly debated, but mainly with an economic focus. This paper aims to broaden the perspective of foreign influence and cultural neo-imperialism, specifically in the context of Kenya. This study examines whether China’s and the EU’s actions in Kenya can be understood as expressions of cultural neo-imperialism. Using a qualitative thematic analysis (TA), the material was classified into three themes; products, practices and perspectives and evaluated through the theoretical framework of Edward Said’s “Culture and Imperialism” (1993) to reveal underlying power structures. The findings suggest that China is engaging more explicitly in cultural dominance, while the EU showed more implicit and subtle... (More)
China’s and the EU’s presence in Africa is regularly debated, but mainly with an economic focus. This paper aims to broaden the perspective of foreign influence and cultural neo-imperialism, specifically in the context of Kenya. This study examines whether China’s and the EU’s actions in Kenya can be understood as expressions of cultural neo-imperialism. Using a qualitative thematic analysis (TA), the material was classified into three themes; products, practices and perspectives and evaluated through the theoretical framework of Edward Said’s “Culture and Imperialism” (1993) to reveal underlying power structures. The findings suggest that China is engaging more explicitly in cultural dominance, while the EU showed more implicit and subtle forms of influence. The result emphasises that neo-imperialism remains relevant in contemporary international politics, and not tied to the past. Both China and the EU’s cultural engagement in Kenya can be understood as means of soft power and implicate how actors operate internationally. This study sheds light on the cultural aspects of neo-imperialism, an often overlooked aspect of analysis. This highlights how neo-imperialism exists in different forms of influence and is applicable to emerging global powers. (Less)
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author
Wighagen, Malin LU and Belachew, Esther LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK04 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Neo-imperialism, Culture, Kenya, EU, China, Edward Said, Thematic analysis.
language
English
id
9189573
date added to LUP
2025-08-08 11:10:03
date last changed
2025-08-08 11:10:03
@misc{9189573,
  abstract     = {{China’s and the EU’s presence in Africa is regularly debated, but mainly with an economic focus. This paper aims to broaden the perspective of foreign influence and cultural neo-imperialism, specifically in the context of Kenya. This study examines whether China’s and the EU’s actions in Kenya can be understood as expressions of cultural neo-imperialism. Using a qualitative thematic analysis (TA), the material was classified into three themes; products, practices and perspectives and evaluated through the theoretical framework of Edward Said’s “Culture and Imperialism” (1993) to reveal underlying power structures. The findings suggest that China is engaging more explicitly in cultural dominance, while the EU showed more implicit and subtle forms of influence. The result emphasises that neo-imperialism remains relevant in contemporary international politics, and not tied to the past. Both China and the EU’s cultural engagement in Kenya can be understood as means of soft power and implicate how actors operate internationally. This study sheds light on the cultural aspects of neo-imperialism, an often overlooked aspect of analysis. This highlights how neo-imperialism exists in different forms of influence and is applicable to emerging global powers.}},
  author       = {{Wighagen, Malin and Belachew, Esther}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Kenya Between Giants: Dimensions of Cultural Power}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}