Prof. Mwenda Ntarangwi is a cultural anthropologist with an interest in symbolic and interpretive anthropology. He earned his BEd in language education and MA in Swahili Studies from Kenyatta University, Kenya and MA and PhD in cultural anthropology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Mwenda's research is on popular cultural expressions, the practice and history of anthropology, and inter-cultural engagement. He is the author of, among other works, The Street is My Pulpit: Hip Hop and Christianity in Kenya (Illinois, 2016), Reversed Gaze: an African Ethnography of American Anthropology (Illinois, 2010), East African Hip Hop: Youth Culture and Globalization (Illinois, 2009), Gender Identity and Performance: Understanding Swahili Cultural Realities Through Song (Africa World Press, 2003), editor of Jesus and Ubuntu: Exploring the Social Impact of Christianity in Africa (Africa World Press, 2011), and co-editor of African Anthropologies: History, Critique and Practice (Zed, 2006).

East African Hip Hop: Youth Culture and Globalization (Interp Culture New Millennium)

By Mwenda Ntarangwi

In this book, Mwenda Ntarangwi analyzes how young hip hop artists in the East African nations of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania showcase the opportunities and challenges brought by the globalization of music. Combining local popular music traditions with American and Jamaican styles of rap, East African hip hop culture reflects the difficulty of creating commercially accessible music while honoring tradition and East African culture. Ntarangwi pays special attention to growing cross-border exchanges...

Reversed Gaze: An African Ethnography of American Anthropology

By Mwenda Ntarangwi

Deftly illustrating how life circumstances can influence ethnographic fieldwork, Mwenda Ntarangwi focuses on his experiences as a Kenyan anthropology student and professional anthropologist practicing in the United States and Africa. Whereas Western anthropologists often study non-Western cultures, Mwenda Ntarangwi reverses these common roles and studies the Western culture of anthropology from an outsider's viewpoint while considering larger debates about race, class, power, and the representation...

African Anthropologies: History, Critique and Practice (Africa in the New Millennium)

By Mwenda Ntarangwi

This overview of the history, application and teaching of anthropology in post-colonial Africa shows how the continent's anthropologists are redefining the historical legacy of European and American disciplinary hegemony, and developing distinctively African contributions to anthropological theory and practice. The contributors illustrate the diverse national traditions of anthropological practice that have developed in sub-Saharan Africa since decolonization and exemplify the diversity of professional...

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