William Tozer

Born in England and raised in Kenya, my multi-national upbringing and identity as a cultural outsider has greatly informed my view of Africa in the global world order. I graduated last year from Durham University with a BA in Anthropology, specializing in political and economic anthropology in my final years. I developed an interest in imperialistic societal views of the ‘Other’, the localized effects of post-industrial decline, and political organization in newly independent states.

For my undergraduate dissertation I conducted fieldwork amongst young men ‘hustling’ in Nairobi’s vast informal economy, dealing with the daily uncertainties of informal living, fraught masculinities, and the future hopes – both personal and national – of disaffected male youth at the urban margins. In light of the Gen Z movement’s ongoing resistance to the Ruto administration, at Oxford I wish to investigate how Kenya’s politically active and globally integrated youth are driving a positive shift in the nation’s political landscape through new ways of political organization.

I have a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for September next year and hope one day to work in a development capacity in Africa.