Unmasking Patriarchy and Coloniality in Kenya’s Political Regimes: A Feminist Intersectional Analysis of Women’s Marginalisation

This chapter explores how the interplay of patriarchy and colonial legacies embedded in political regimes perpetuate gender inequality and the marginalisation of women in Kenya. Using a comparative historical analysis, it examines the context and sequence of institutional mechanisms and processes unfolding across four Kenya’s post-colonial regimes since independence, analysing how women’s socio-economic and political marginalisation is shaped under each regime. The findings reveal that despite regime changes, there is a persistent nature of women’s political and socio-economic marginalisation and gender inequalities across all successive regimes manifested in constrained women’s feminist movements, limited political participation and representation, inadequate gender and women empowerment policies. By applying a feminist intersectionality perspective, the study reveals the interplay of patriarchy systems and post-colonial historical legacies as the structures creating and sustaining women’s marginalisation. Theoretically, the study extends the scope and application of intersectional lens beyond the main analytical constructs of gender, race and class, and contributes to its relevance in contextualising entrepreneurship debate emphasising the interplay of historical context and coloniality in shaping entrepreneurial contexts. The chapter concludes with policy recommendations advocating for the adoption of quota-based strategy beyond tokenism for women’s political representation; gender-sensitive civic education to reshape narratives around women’s leadership, challenge gender bias in politics; and fast tracking institutional and statutory reforms towards the implementation of the ‘two-thirds’ gender rule for achieving gender parity in politics and in socio-economic spheres.