ABSTRACT
The possibilities for a vibrant civil society have grown narrower in Kenya during the past decade due to decreased donor funding and government hostility towards civil society actors. At the same time, Kenyan youth have grown increasingly disillusioned with the likelihood of societal change through political participation on the one hand, and professionalised civil society actors on the other. Nevertheless, activists have formed ever more vibrant community-level associations in the form of justice centres. This chapter examines the multifaceted dynamics within the activist ecosystem in Kenya, focusing on human rights and social justice activists’ perspectives on the community level. Drawing from qualitative research conducted in Nairobi between 2017 and 2022 with activists on several organisational level, the aim of this research is to unearth the contestations and distrust among and between activist groups both vertically and horizontally, and their implications on the wider civil society ecosystem in the country. The chapter uses the Saba Saba March for Our Lives protest as an example of how activists work together despite the disrupted dynamics and discursive divisions among contemporary activist groups. Importantly, it argues that a healthy civil society ecosystem involves a continuous contestation between actors as well as ideas and methods for socio-political change making.
