Deputy President William Ruto’s victorious presidential campaign in Kenya’s 2022 elections saw him champion the plight of the ‘hustlers’, young informal economy workers on low, piecemeal incomes. Reconfiguring political identities around notions of economic hardship and struggle, Ruto’s campaign appeared emblematic of what scholars have recently identified as a turn towards ‘populism’ in Africa, transmuting ethno-nationalist identities into class-based ones. However, whilst Ruto’s campaign capitalized on rising prices to devastating political effect, he also channelled discontent with the Jubilee government and its unmet promises of shared prosperity. Drawing on ethnographic data collected in central Kenya’s Kiambu region since 2017, this article understands Ruto’s victory not through the lens of ‘hustler populism’ but rather as an anti-Jubilee ‘backlash’. Ruto’s campaign took advantage of Uhuru Kenyatta’s personal unpopularity as voters increasingly questioned the nature of ‘dynastic’ authority and ‘state capture’, seeking to punish Uhuru personally for his failures to create prosperity in the region whilst enriching himself at their expense. Elaborating on these tensions, the article points towards broken ‘moral economies’ between voters and politicians as a vital field of research.

中文翻译：

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肯尼亚 2022 年选举中的骗子民粹主义、反禧年的强烈反对和经济不公

副总统威廉·鲁托 (William Ruto) 在肯尼亚 2022 年大选中获胜，见证了他为“骗子”、收入微薄的年轻非正规经济工人的困境辩护。围绕经济困难和斗争的概念重新配置政治身份，鲁托的竞选活动似乎象征着学者们最近将非洲转向“民粹主义”，将种族民族主义身份转变为基于阶级的身份。然而，尽管鲁托的竞选活动利用物价上涨带来了毁灭性的政治影响，但他也表达了对朱比利政府及其未兑现的共同繁荣承诺的不满。利用 2017 年以来在肯尼亚中部 Kiambu 地区收集的民族志数据，这篇文章不是通过“骗子民粹主义”的镜头来理解鲁托的胜利，而是将其视为反朱比利的“反弹”。Ruto 的竞选活动利用了 Uhuru Kenyatta 个人的不受欢迎，因为选民越来越质疑“王朝”权威和“国家占领”的性质，试图因 Uhuru 未能在该地区创造繁荣而同时以牺牲他们为代价来致富而对 Uhuru 进行人身惩罚。文章详细阐述了这些紧张关系，指出选民和政治家之间破碎的“道德经济”是一个重要的研究领域。寻求对乌呼鲁进行人身惩罚，因为他未能在该地区创造繁荣，同时又以牺牲他们为代价来致富。文章详细阐述了这些紧张关系，指出选民和政治家之间破碎的“道德经济”是一个重要的研究领域。寻求对乌呼鲁进行人身惩罚，因为他未能在该地区创造繁荣，同时又以牺牲他们为代价来致富。文章详细阐述了这些紧张关系，指出选民和政治家之间破碎的“道德经济”是一个重要的研究领域。