Abstract

Nikushike namna gani? (How should I hold you?) The questions that women ask motorbike taxis operators are just one of the many ways that this new mode of transportation in both urban and rural Kenya have become a vehicle for laughter, outrage, (in)dignity and wealth. This paper focuses on moments of delight in the danger-filled work of motorbike taxi operators in Kenya. How much joy do boda boda (motorbike taxis) generate in modern Kenya? The delight is measured, not simply in terms of the varied financial and psycho-social accumulation that is made possible in this industry, but also in terms of the tone of the public conversations that have been triggered by the boda boda phenomena. I interrogate the grammar that has grown out of this mode of transportation, the platforms through which this grammar circulates and the tenor of the voices of thought-leaders and policymakers as they engage the conundrum of public transport. An examination of women’s engagements with boda bodas reveals a long arc that stretches from moral panic borne of knee-jerk recourses to both ethnic mores and pious religion – which often conspire to policewomen’s bodies – to reclamation and release in moments of freedom that are performed in several ways, including the erasure of the borders of personal space. Beyond the political economies of wealth and poverty in Africa, this paper is concerned with demonstrating cultural performativity in the context of post-colonial modernity and answering key questions about how national identities are forged and reinforced in a series of rapidly circulating discourses that underline commonalities far more than they entrench the differences that many see as both indelible and emblematic of the modern African state.

摘要

Nikushike namna gani？（我该怎么抱你？）女性向摩托车出租车运营商提出的问题只是肯尼亚城市和农村的这种新交通方式成为欢笑、愤怒、（不）尊严和财富的工具的众多方式之一. 本文重点介绍肯尼亚摩托车出租车运营商充满危险的工作中的快乐时刻。boda boda（摩托车出租车）在现代肯尼亚带来了多少欢乐？衡量快乐的标准，不仅是根据这个行业可能产生的各种金融和社会心理积累，还根据boda boda引发的公众对话的基调现象。我质疑从这种交通方式中产生的语法、这种语法传播的平台以及思想领袖和政策制定者在解决公共交通难题时的声音基调。对女性与boda bodas交往的考察揭示了一条长长的弧线，从下意识求助引起的道德恐慌延伸到种族习俗和虔诚的宗教——这常常与女警察的身体密谋——到以多种方式进行的自由时刻的恢复和释放，包括擦除个人空间的边界。除了非洲财富和贫困的政治经济学之外，本文还关注在后殖民现代性的背景下展示文化表演性，并回答关于如何在一系列迅速传播的强调共同性的话语中锻造和加强民族认同的关键问题。它们不仅巩固了许多人认为现代非洲国家不可磨灭和象征的差异。