Why Does City Life Melt Kenya's Tribal Barriers?

Stephen Jennings says urbanization is the sign that Kenyans are coming to think of themselves as a single nation. Kenya has many ethnic groups and tribal groups. Asked whether the soccer team, the music people listen to, or politics is the variable to track, he says it is probably urbanization. Once people move into an urban setting, tribal barriers and differences gradually melt away.

He says the pattern shows up in his office, where most of the staff grew up in an urban context. People there cannot be told apart by tribal background, because they are living together and working together. Through urbanization, he says, the barriers have already eroded massively. Politicians like to stir the barriers up every election cycle. He says the underlying integration is very pronounced, and much less of an issue than the outside world thinks.