Acrobats : building pyramids for their future : what are skills that youth in Kangemi, Nairobi develop through acrobat training and how do these translate into capital that they can use in their lives?

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Acrobats:

Building pyramids

for their future

By: Véronique Sprenger

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University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Social Sciences MSc. International Development Studies

Master Thesis1

Acrobats: Building pyramids for their future

What are skills that youth in Kangemi, Nairobi develop through acrobat training and how do these translate into capital that they can use in their lives?

July, 2018

Veronique Sprenger/11669802 Supervisor: Dennis Rodgers Second reader: Naomi van Stapele

Word count: 28.875 words

In the past there has been little research on projects that empower youth in slums through sports or performing arts. Therefore, the aim of this research is to show how youth from slums who train in acrobatics have developed skills that can help them overcome difficulties such as, unemployment and poor education. These skills will then be translated into capital that the acrobats use in their lives. These skills will be derived from one of the unique aspects of acrobatics which is that it is both a sport and a performing art. The research aims to contribute to international development research by researching a unique and local phenomenon that still has potential to be developed. The answers to the research question were obtained through qualitative analysis focusing on participant observation and interviews. The findings will show that through acrobatic training the acrobats do not only gain economic capital, but also develop skills that accumulate cultural, social, symbolic and physical capital. Some of the skills that will stand out from the research are physical strength, communication, showmanship and perseverance. Another highlight of the research is the international work opportunities that the acrobats are able to obtain. Moreover, due to strong trust relationships between acrobats, the research will demonstrate how the sport is used for inter-cultural understanding and raising awareness. The research will go on to show how all types of capital are interdependent. It will then endeavor to conclude that acrobatics has the potential to be a powerful tool for youth to not only gain economic capital but to also accumulate other types of capital that they can use in life. Although, the conclusion will also show that there are limits to this accumulation. Since artisan jobs have not been thoroughly researched, the research suggests that further research should be conducted. Furthermore, due to the lack of research on gender dimensions within acrobatics in Nairobi, this should also be further investigated.

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This thesis is dedicated to the incredibly talented and hardworking acrobats from Nairobi who were part of this journey. They did not only welcome me with open arms but also showed me their world and allowed me to train with them. Their training and stories inspired me to write this thesis and confirmed why it is so important to shed light on their world and talents. This journey confirmed the importance of nurturing talents and using them to create a better future. This research is for the acrobats and I hope that all their dreams and goals will become a reality.

“When it comes to talent development, it becomes very difficult to get that recognition. Yes, you can go to Kenyatta University and study arts, but our people could not go there. So those are

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Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Dennis Rodgers. I was extremely lucky to have received his support, advice and help throughout this process. He did not only provide me with the confidence to pursue this, but also continuously directed me to the right sources that perfectly complemented my research. Without his patience, positive feedback and creative open-mindedness this thesis would not have been possible. Thank you for your trust! I would also like to thank my second reader Naomi van Stapele for her enthusiasm to read my thesis.

I want to thank my classmate and friend who was also doing her research in Nairobi: Saana Mirala. She quite literally saved me when I was in trouble in the field and offered me a roof over my head in a safe area for the last two weeks of my research. Her support was of immeasurable value.

Throughout the writing process I have had support from various sources but most importantly from my proof-reader, advisor and good friend Solomon Mwanjala. He has helped me to make sense of my sometimes-unstructured thoughts that I attempted to write down. As he is from Kenya and lives in Nairobi, he was always able to answer my questions regarding local problems that acrobats mentioned in their interviews which I did not understand. Moreover, I cannot thank him enough for the emotional support he offered after I returned from the field.

Without my family’s support I would not have been able to do this research, they were there for me when I needed to complain or when I wanted to share exciting stories. They trusted me and the people who I was surrounded with. Lieve Papa, Mama, Brigitte, Michele en Christiaan, ik hoop dat na het lezen van mijn scriptie jullie vrede hebben met alle stress en angst die ik jullie heb aangedaan toen ik mijn onderzoek deed. Ik hou van jullie!

Finally, I want to thank the acrobats and the locals who provided me access to the field. Harrison, Jack, Abu, Geoff, Duncan, Mato, Bisshop, Sheban, James, Charles, Ali, Bruce, Juma, Julius, Sammy, Dennis, Bonny, Issa and all the other acrobats in Nairobi who I got to know.

Everyone is a part of this thesis and has helped me to realize my dream of combining my talent in gymnastics, passion for the acrobats and my education into this thesis.

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Overview of video’s

• 28/02/2018 Video 1: Cover page pyramid • 23/03/1028 Video 2: Breaking the “morale” • 23/03/2018 Video 3: Hard work as a team • 25/03/2018 Video 4: Improvised performance • 19/03/2018 Video 5: High “morale”

• 19/03/2018 Video 6: Balance and synchronization in pyramids • 20/03/2018 Video 7: Using “soh” for safety

• 09/03/2018 Video 8: The wow-factor

• 23/02/2018 Video 9: Creativity in smaller groups • 23/03/2018 Video 10: Dangerous chair-balancing act

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“My dream was to travel… So, I think it is starting to come true, because I travel. Though you know, you can’t just… even if you are a baby, you know a baby is born small, either a boy or a girl, it cannot just stand up and walk, the baby must start with crawling; with one step, two steps, moving step by step and then it comes to a time, maybe it can run. So, I think it’s… the first time I travel, the second time I travel, it’s something that shows something good is coming, so it’s just step by step, it’s coming step by step” – Julius, Acrobat

Chapter 1: Introduction

It was June 2016 when I was first introduced to a group of acrobats in Nairobi, Kenya. My entire life I have been practicing gymnastics at a high level and now I was at the start of an internship with a performing arts organization called: YADEN East-Africa. The group consisted of fourteen Kenyan youth between the ages of fourteen and twenty-five who were living and training in a slum. In the weeks that followed, I developed a strong connection with these acrobats that resulted in an incredible trust relationship. We trained together every day and often performed shows which provided them with a source of income. I was thrown into a world where training circumstances were difficult and dangerous, as there were no safety mats to cushion falls and not much food or water. Despite these challenging circumstances, I noticed that the youth were extremely passionate about acrobatics, loved giving shows, and developed their personality through their passion. They had truly empowered themselves and found a way to survive by following their passion and developing their talent. Acrobatics did not only provide them with monetary gain, but through my observation, it also gave them strength, motivation and courage that would help them further on in life. Now, a year and a half later, I returned to Nairobi and joined another group of acrobats between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five training in the Kangemi slum. They took me on a journey that taught me about the skills they develop through their training and they shared their individual experiences through their life stories. The result of this journey is this research which aims to find out how their skills can be translated into capital and how that capital can be used in their lives.

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Relevance

In this research I chose to focus on an alternative form of employment that can enable youth to rise out of poverty and simultaneously develop certain skills. In the past, there has been little research on projects or initiatives that empower youth in slums through sports or theatre. Furthermore, there has also been a lack of research on the effects of “theatre for development” and “sport for development”. This is because these types of projects have

mainly used a top-down approach and as a result the research produced focusses on top-down projects. A top down approach is a method that is conducted by outside agents and does not allow for the community to give input on what they need (Kidd, 2008). On the other hand, a bottom-up approach considers the resources available and assesses the needs of the local population (Stöhr, 1980). This research aims to be different by not only focusing on a bottom-up, self-empowering approach, but by also touching upon a very unique engine of development that benefits both the individual and the collective. Moreover, it will exploit the fact that acrobatics is neither a sport nor a performing art, but a combination of both, which leads to the development of skills from both sides. Much of the research that has been conducted has focused on either theatre or sports and failed to look at a combination of both. I believe, this has been a consequence of Western researchers perceiving them as two different entities. By creating this research from a local community participatory perspective, the research seeks to be more independent of the western context. It aims to contribute to international development research by researching a unique and local phenomenon that still has a lot of developmental potential. Finally, it strives to contribute to the literature on sport and youth unemployment in slums and to add to international development debates regarding urban and slum development, informal employment and poverty elevation.

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Context

“After the confusion of the education2_{, I got friends. The friends introduced me}

to practice halls because I was idle. I didn’t go to school, I didn’t have work to do and I was just idle. My friends would go and do acrobatics and go to school so then I came to see a performance and got interested to join acrobats” – Ali, Acrobat

The documentation of my research and journey with the acrobats started in a slum called Kangemi. This slum is located on the west-side of Nairobi which is typically seen as the more affluent side of the city. On the southern end of Kangemi borders another slum called Kawangware. Over 200.0003_{people live in Kangemi in very difficult circumstances (Upendo OVC} Program, 2017). These circumstances are best described in the UN-HABITAT definition of a slum which states that: slums are set in urban areas with a typical household comprising of a group of people living with a lack of durable housing which can protect against extreme climate conditions. There is a lack of space –meaning that more than three people share a single room–, and insufficient access to safe water causing poor sanitation. Furthermore, they lack security of tenure meaning that they can be evicted (UN-Habitat, 2006). Rural-to-urban migration which leads to growing urban populations in countries with weak economies, has been described as one of the major catalysts to the creation of slums (Kabiru, et al, 2013). The result of this is extreme inequality and poverty which was visible in the slum where I conducted my research.

Generally, poverty should be seen as a multidimensional problem. There is not just a “lack of means” but also a lack of resources. This causes people living in poverty to miss out on human development opportunities that are usually provided or subsidized by the government, such as good education and healthcare (Yoshikawa, et al, 2012). Consequently, many slum dwellers get stuck in a vicious cycle known as the poverty trap (Kabeer, 2015: 196). The poverty trap is a self-enforcing system or negative spiral that renders people from getting out of poverty. It is a

2_{There was no money for him to go to high school, so he only did primary school} 3_{As Kangemi is a slum, it is difficult to know exactly how many people live there, various sources give different} numbers. The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics for example has Kangemi at just over 80.000 inhabitants

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complex issue in development studies due to the difficulty faced when trying to get people out of the poverty trap without making them dependent on the help that they received (Economic Times, 2018).

There has been a lot of research on the effects of poverty on youth; an example of this is research by Yoshikawa, et al. (2012) which looked into the mental, emotional and behavioral effects of poverty in the United States. Despite the differences between the US and Kenya, a lot of the effects they found can be universally reflected on youth growing up in slums (Yoshikawa, et al, 2012). Their research showed that poverty impacts youth’s health and nutrition, cognitive development and school results negatively (Yoshikawa, et al, 2012). Moreover, poverty has also been linked to higher depression and suicide rates (Yoshikawa, et al, 2012). Another significant finding of their research is that family poverty as well as neighborhood poverty have negative influences on the youth’s mental, emotional and behavioral health (Yoshikawa, et al, 2012: 280). The research identified that neighborhood poverty has less of an influence than family poverty; however for slums where neighborhood poverty is prevalent is can be argued it has a bigger impact on the youth’s health.

Yet, it should not be forgotten that the realities of the youth I worked with are very difficult to understand for someone coming from a privileged background. In theory I can attempt to understand their context, but I am fully aware that in practice I will never be able to truly comprehend it. Therefore, the following section will attempt to further discover challenges that youth living in poverty face and look at how these could influence their aspirations. Being aware of this will help create a narrative that understands their lives and possible struggles better. This could allow for a more open-minded outlook on their life decisions.

Unemployment

One of the main difficulties for youth living in slums is unemployment which leads to extreme boredom. It is therefore essential to understand how this influences their lives. According to a recent analysis, the youth unemployment rate in Kenya is a staggering 22.1% (The statistics portal, 2017) compared to the 7% in the Netherlands (Trading economics, 2017). Research has shown that some of the ramifications of unemployment are increased crime rates

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and violence (Thieme, 2010). Other issues that have been identified are: severe violence and homicide, sexual harassment and rape, diseases such as HIV/AIDS, police harassment and the inability to finish school (Yoshikawa, et al, 2012). These issues are prevalent in Kenya and the government has tried to tackle this problem through initiatives such as the Kazi kwa Vijana (work for youth) program. Unfortunately, youth in Kenya have not perceived these programs as being successful due to issues such as: corruption, lack of accountability, delayed payments, manual labor with low wages and no training for new skills (Thieme, 2010). This shows that providing jobs is not enough and a supplementing approach is necessary to tackle the youth unemployment issue. This is where the informal economy and jobs in performing arts can be a potential tool for combatting this problem.

An argument favoring this is the low barriers to entry for such jobs which do not necessarily require an education. Providing a good education infrastructure is a challenge for many governments that face economic instability and as a consequence, many youths in slums struggle to fulfil their educational aspirations (Kabiru, et al, 2013). As the research of Kabiru, et al. shows; youth do consider education to be important but due to financial constraints and lacking job prospects, they believe it does not add much value (Kabiru, et al, 2013). Consequently, youth are more likely to pause their education in order to start a career that allows them to earn money which can be used to finance their education later on (Kabiru, et al, 2013). As a result, youth are more likely to develop creative aspirations and focus on artisan jobs, instead of paying and following their higher education which does not guarantee job security (Kabiru, et al., 2013).

Youth’s aspirations

It is easy to think that living and growing up in a slum is discouraging to the youth and stops them from dreaming of a better future. Knowing whether this is true or not is imperative to constructing a perspective on the extent to which youth fight for what they need in order to pull themselves out of their situations. It also helps to understand the motivation behind the acrobat’s choice of labor.

Research by Kabiru, et al. shows that youth in slums adjust their aspirations to their realities in order to make them feasible. As anywhere in the world, it does not matter how

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difficult one’s situation is; people are still concerned with their future jobs, living space, love life and possible family (Kabiru, et al., 2013). The analysis shows that more than 75% of the youth that participated in the research have high aspirations regarding wishes to own a home, having a good job, and to take care of their elders (Kabiru, et al., 2013, 89). However, due to limited opportunities, a lot of the participants in this research said that their career aspirations were more related to craft and artisan jobs, owning a small business or being a hairdresser or mechanic (Thieme, 2010). This shows the importance of alternative ways of employment and the ability to be entrepreneurial and creative for their survival (Thieme, 2010). Appadurai put this nicely into words in the value of culture for survival when he stated: “It is in culture that ideas of the future, as much as of those about the past, are embedded and nurtured” (Appadurai, 2004: 29). A greater focus on culture, grassroots movements and empowerment through creative skills is desirable for youth to enable them to get out of poverty. Moreover, as Yoshikawa et al.’s research shows, interventions of poverty that are long term, stable and intensive are more likely to succeed (Yoshikawa, et al., 2012). A way in which this culture aspect can be used for development is through sports and especially through acrobatics where traditional dance and cultural pride are often showcased in performances.

Sports and development

The acrobats embody this value of culture for survival through their creative, informal work. They showcase how sports and performing arts can be used as a tool for development. Sport can be used in development to create unification and to develop certain characteristics and traits (Levermore, 2008). Sport for development is a fairly new concept that has very little supportive research. However, as sport for development has garnered more popularity over time a problem has been identified: despite receiving a lot of money from donors, programs that were mainly set up by developed countries in developing countries did not have an impact on the communities that participated in them (Kidd, 2008).

As a result of this, an increasing amount of international organizations have started to use sports to reach specific areas and communities in developing countries that would otherwise be difficult to reach (Levermore, 2008). Sport and physical activities are even recognized as human

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rights by the UN through its Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other charters and conventions (Kidd, 2008). In spite of this, a lot of organizations struggle with implementing sports programs because they lack a proven track record even though they show great potential (Levermore, 2008). The value of sports as a development tool is underestimated and though organizations do use it, they focus on a top-down approach. Nevertheless, it has been proven that the most effective development comes from bottom-up approaches that consider available resources and the assessment of needs of the local population (Kidd, 2008).

Gender

An aspect that stands out in this research is the fact that only male acrobats took part. Unfortunately, there are not many female acrobats in Nairobi and it was therefore not possible for them to be included in this research. I am very much interested in finding out why there are fewer female acrobats in Nairobi, but due to the short timespan I had, sadly I was unable to research this. Though, to speculate on this; as acrobatics is perceived as a very physical sport for which lots of strength is required, it might not be as approachable for women. Especially in Kenya, where certain gender relations, norms and practices are in place, the lack of women in acrobatics reflects these broader societal gender norms (Gatwiri & Mumbi, 2016). These norms are likely magnified in male dominated teams, making joining a team as a woman even harder and more intimidating. Personally, I believe women are perfectly capable of doing the same acrobatics skills that the men do. Though, during my training with the acrobats I did also experience the gender norms that are in place and was able to compare these to my western perspective and see how they can limit or scare women away from joining acrobatics. I would have liked to further elaborate on this, but I had to choose what to focus on in this thesis and I chose to focus on the benefits that acrobatics can bring to the acrobats. As the methodology will show, I am aware of this shortcoming to the research. I would highly encourage exploring this aspect of acrobatics further in future research.

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Research Aim

The aim of this research is to show how youth training acrobatics within the Kangemi slum have overcome difficulties such as unemployment and lack of education, through self-created informal artisan jobs. It strives to show what skills youth have gained from being acrobats and how their approach to sports and performing arts has allowed them to gain different types of capital that have shaped their lives. This research, using the alternative bottom-up approach will stand in stark contrast with the top-down approach that has been implemented by organizations.

Outline of thesis

This thesis contains six chapters in which the first has introduced the research topic, its relevance and its context. Chapter two outlines the theory behind the research focusing on skills obtained from participating in acrobatics and sports, collective efficacy related to the team setting of acrobatics and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory on capital. Chapter three showcases the research questions, conceptual scheme and limitations as well as ethical considerations.

Chapters four and five present, analyze and discuss the findings from the field. Chapter four introduces the acrobats and reveals the opportunities they have earned through acrobatics. Chapter five shows through the acrobat’s personal stories, how the skills obtained from training have helped them to accumulate the different types of capital. These chapters also include some audio-visual representations which can be watched through the links or QR codes. Chapter six will give a final conclusion in which the limitations to accumulation of capital are also discussed.

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Chapter 2: Theoretical framework

As stated in the introduction and research question, this thesis will look at the skills acrobats develop in their training and how these skills translate into capital that can be used in their lives. It will begin by analyzing the difference between sports and performing arts and how that can affect the way acrobatics is perceived. Thereafter, past research will be reviewed to identify skills that are gained through participating in performing arts and sports. Given that performing arts and sports are team-oriented activities, I will discuss how being in a group influences both the collective agency and the individuals’ skill acquisition. Once these skills have been identified, the thesis will highlight the different types of capital with reference to Bourdieu’s theory and introduce physical capital based on Loic Wacquant’s Body and Soul. Finally, there will be a paragraph on how trajectories affect people’s habitus, life style and opportunities.

Acrobatics; a sport or an art?

In order to understand what types of skills are developed through acrobatics I first need to establish whether acrobatics is an art or a sport. As stated earlier, sport and art tend to be perceived as two separate entities aimed at different types of people. Bourdieu tries to clarify this distinction between sport and art when he speaks of “the moment from which there began to be constituted a field of competition within which sport was defined as a specific practice, irreducible to a mere ritual game or festive amusement” (Bourdieu, 1978: 821). This is particularly ironic for acrobatics as it suggests that sports were first a game or festive amusement and then became a specific practice. However, acrobatics is unique because it is not just a sport but also an art. This may seem contradictory but the supportive argument is presented below. Bourdieu states that exercising affects the body and the mind in both visible and invisible ways. Sometimes sport will showcase muscles and strength and other times elegance and health (Bourdieu, 1978). He makes a distinction between the two, but gymnastics and acrobatics are different in this aspect as they both show strength and health as well as elegance.

Another distinction Bourdieu makes is between sport and social class. He identifies sports as being less intellectual and more masculine: creating leaders and winners and attracting people from “lower classes”. On the other hand, he describes art as more feminine; attracting people

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from a higher class (Bourdieu, 1978). Although this distinction is possibly derived from Bourdieu’s personal context leading to some ethnocentric and time-bound limitations; as sports and arts are often universally understood, I do believe this distinction could be applied universally. This distinction affects the demographics of the audience; where sporting events attract a lower-class audience and art events attract an upper-class audience (Bourdieu, 1978).

Due to this division, upper-class people would not perceive a career in sports as an acceptable career, explaining why there are more professional sportsmen from lower classes (Bourdieu, 1978). Because of this relationship between sport and class, successful sportsmen from lower-class backgrounds are more relatable to their audience (Bourdieu, 1978). This can give youth who look up to them hope that they could be “the next big thing”.

In the context of acrobatics, the arguments stated above further demonstrate how acrobatics can be perceived as a unique hybrid of both sports and art. It is a very physical sport which can lead to the perception that it requires less intellect. In reference to Bourdieu’s logic, acrobatics would mainly attract worker’s audiences and repel the upper-class both as an audience and career path. However, due to its crossover with gymnastics, which is considered artful due to its elegance and grace, it becomes an art that is now attractive to the higher-class. This also impacts the interrelationship between the performer and audience because performers can now be from a different class than the audience.

It can therefore be concluded that acrobatics is both a sport and an art. This leads exercisers of acrobatics to gain skills from both performing arts and sports which can be translated into different types of capital.

Performing arts skills

In order to identify the skills that are unique to acrobatics as a performing art, theatre for development needs to be segmented and analyzed. Theatre for development generally aims for the audience to critically analyze their social environment (Nogueira, 2002). There are two main stages to contemporary theatre for development; which are the producing stage and the actual performance (Nogueira, 2002). Each stage allows for the development of different skills. The production stage is characterized by the sharing of creative ideas and brainstorming. It

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encourages participants to communicate and collaborate to find solutions for potential issues. This communication could be between groups that would usually not interact, but are brought together by the need to choreograph a performance (Nogueira, 2002). Moreover, it allows the participants to work with a different number of people, sometimes divided up in pairs, smaller groups, or one big group (Maglio & McKinstry, 2008). The theatre piece consists of teamwork between the performers during the performance itself, and showcases showmanship as well as musicality (Maglio & McKinstry, 2008). It also further develops non-verbal communication and improvisation (Maglio & McKinstry, 2008). Finally, it allows for self-expression within a participant’s comfort zone (Bassel, 2005). To support these performing arts skills, the next section will identify skills that can be developed through sports.

Sports skills

Now that acrobatics is identified as a sport and art, a complete picture of all the skills that acrobats gain through acrobatics can be constructed. In order to do this, it must first be explained why sports is an effective tool for development and what skills performers acquire from participating in sport. Sport is perceived as a tool to build character and create leaders. Because of this, people who are involved in sports are often characterized as possessing willpower, energy and courage (Bourdieu, 1978). It can also affect the way a person is perceived by others because sports can lead to better posture, strength and a healthy image (Bourdieu, 1978). Additionally, the way sports-people are trained can influence their communication; making them more confrontational and straight-forward (Bourdieu, 1978).

Because of these traits, sport is utilized as an alternative tool for development not only to raise awareness in a non-political way but also to equip the practitioners with strong interpersonal skills (Levermore, 2008). Sport allows people to connect with each other; to create unification between different groups of people and it has historically been linked to positive effects on both physical and mental health (Levermore, 2008). As a result of this, an increasing amount of organizations such as the ILO, WHO, UNICEF, and non-UN organizations such as Sport Sans Frontiere have created, and have been part of, sport for development programs (Levermore, 2008). Supporting research by Levermore has shown how these sports programs have affected

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conflict resolution, intercultural understanding, raising awareness, economic development as well as physical and psychological health (Levermore, 2008). Furthermore, the World Health Organization recognizes physical activity as a means to improve lifestyles through healthier diets, discouraging smoking, alcohol and drug use, reducing violence, improving functional capacity and encouraging interactions and integration (Levermore, 2008).

Moreover, sport is seen as an effective tool in distracting youth from unhealthy habits or illegal activities (Levermore, 2008). Part of this is that it keeps children and youth off of the streets. An example of this is how in the past boarding schools have utilized sports as a way to occupy the students without too much supervision (Bourdieu, 1978). Having youth do sports in schools is useful in many ways as it is healthy and it allows the youth to release their energy at each other instead of at potential supervisors or the school building (Bourdieu, 1978).

Finally, another outstanding quality of sports development is that it allows participants to acquire physical literacy. Physical literacy is defined as the acquisition of sophisticated movements that create an inventory of skills that can be used for any physical activity (Simunkova, et al., 2013). This has a positive influence on a person’s behavior, life skills and their overall level of physical activity. It can help an individual to develop life skills, increase motivation, self-confidence and determination to live a healthy life style. A by-product of this is that it brings joy and fulfilment to the participant (Simunkova, et al., 2013). Furthermore, developing physical literacy at a young age motivates a person to upkeep their physical activity throughout their lives (Maglio & McKinstry, 2008).

Therefore, skills gained from sports have a life-long impact on an individual’s functioning and are thus necessary for youth’s development into adult life (Maglio & McKinstry, 2008). Supportive research conducted with refugees in France who were encouraged to participate in a circus school showed that the program helped to combat feelings of loneliness, improve self-expression and allowed refugees to organize themselves (Bassel, 2005). Further research conducted by Maglio and McKinstry on circus and therapy showed that involving youth in circus activities increases group solidarity, resilience and excellence as well as improves social skills through collaboration and teamwork (Maglio & McKinstry, 2008). A specific focus on acrobatics improves strength, flexibility, body awareness, and encourages taking risks (Maglio & McKinstry,

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2008). Skills that are more focused on balance can reduce individual’s fear of heights, increase self-confidence and create awareness of others. Therefore, the skills that are developed by physical activity and specifically acrobatics and gymnastics can successfully help youth’s chances of entering the workforce (Levermore, 2008).

As research shows, a wide variety of skills can be mastered by taking part in performing arts as well as in sports. As explored throughout this research, each of these skills can be categorized into different types of capital. Furthermore, another factor that needs to be considered is that these skills can be acquired collectively as well as individually. In order to understand how an acrobatics team contributes to skill development and capital accumulation its importance is analyzed in the next section.

Team work leading to collective efficacy

To be able to understand how a team aspect can influence the acrobats’ skill acquisition, collective efficacy needs to be taken into consideration. It also needs to be considered that each individual acrobat will have their own goals and desires and when a team comes together they must consolidate these into common goals. Simultaneously, it should not be forgotten that each individual in a team is a product of their past and based on this creates their future, impacting their team, which in this case becomes the agency (Bandura, 2000). Bandura defines three types of agencies having an impact on how people manage themselves. The most relevant type of agency for this research is collective agency which is when paths are more interdependent and people work together with a common goal (Bandura, 2000).

Acrobat’s interdependence is not only relevant to achieve their ultimate goal but it is also crucial for training, where acrobats need to develop trusted relationships with one another. When successful, this sense of trust can lead to stronger collective power resulting in a greater collective agency. The extent to which a group can be successful collectively is thus dependent on the group dynamics and the way in which individuals within the group communicate and coordinate (Bandura, 2000). This means that the group’s motivation, aspirations and regulations are crucial to collective efficacy. Subsequently, this impacts how each individual can contribute to the group through their resources, energy and ability to solve problems (Bandura, 2000).

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Eventually their contributions show in their accumulation of individual capital. Since the sense of dependence is so strong, if the collective fails, the individual’s accumulation of any type of capital will be affected negatively.

It can therefore be stated that strong collective efficacy is characterized by a group that has a strong bond of trust which enables them to perform well and secure more jobs (Bandura, 2000). However, weak collective efficacy shows a lack of trust, for example a “base-person” who is not strong enough to carry all the “top persons”, which prevents a team from optimal performance. This can affect their individual lives because of the implications of weak collective efficacy such as being booked less for performances. It shows that in acrobatics the interdependence is so strong that one weak link will affect the entire group. This motivates individuals to have greater cooperation within the group and a stronger sense of togetherness (Bandura, 2000). It also has positive consequences for the individual acrobat as they gain a sense of inspiration from the team that motivates them to develop and enhance their skills.

To conclude, the above argument demonstrates that the interdependence of acrobats leads to positive collective efforts that influence the individuals’ ability to acquire skills and create a clear vision for their future.

Capital

In order to make sense of the skills gained from sports and performing arts and how they can be translated into a tool of development outside these activities, I will translate these skills into capital. Capital can be seen as a way in which these skills can be converted into something more tangible. It will therefore allow me to identify what forms of capital acrobats gain from their training and classify the acrobat’s stories in the different types of capital. A lot of literature on the conceptualization of capital exists, but this thesis will take on the school of thought from Pierre Bourdieu. According to Bourdieu, different types of capital help to make sense of social structures and how inequality can develop (Bourdieu, 1986). He also states that it takes time to derive capital and to develop it in such a way for it to be beneficial and profitable (Bourdieu, 1986). This thesis will include these qualities of capital in its analysis and refer to them. The analysis in chapter five will also showcase how the types of capital influence and reinforce each

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other. Finally, Bourdieu’s theory of capital defines four different types of capital namely: economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital, each evaluated below.

Economic capital

Economic capital is the most recognized type of capital and is expressed in monetary value. It is the type of capital that is often desired as a result of investments in cultural, social and symbolic capital. Bourdieu states that all types of capital influence each other and one cannot exist without the other (Bourdieu, 1986). Therefore, to accumulate economic capital, social, cultural and symbolic capital are also necessary. This can be seen in acrobatics, where the skills the acrobat acquires as well as the social capital from the collective agency is what brings the monetary gain.

Cultural capital

Cultural capital can be divided into three different types that are also interdependent. The first type is the embodied state (Bourdieu, 1986) which is capital gained through the time invested in acquiring and improving certain skills. In the case of acrobats this could be the time they invest in their training as well as the skills that they gain from training. These skills include both the physical skills such as being able to do a handstand or build pyramids, and the interpersonal that were previously identified. This means that cultural capital in its embodied state is inherent to the individual that develops it and can therefore not be shared (Bourdieu, 1986). For this type of capital to be beneficial it needs to create external value. This external value arises when the skills are monetized by the next state of cultural capital: the objectified state.

Capital in its objectified state is when a consumable object is created out of the embodied state of capital. Because this type of capital can be consumed by others it functions as a profit maker (Bourdieu, 1986). An example of this could be when acrobats receive payments for the shows and performances they give. This payment is a product of the skills that the acrobat gains during training as described by the embodied state. This is then translated into a show which becomes an object that can be consumed by others. Other people’s consumption brings about the monetary gain and transforms this form of cultural capital into economic capital.

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The third state of cultural capital is the institutionalized state. In this case the embodied state is given qualifications so that they acquire a measurable value (Bourdieu, 1986). An example of this is physical education (PE) classes given in school. In PE students are given grades for their accomplishments and the sport becomes institutionalized and the skills acquired are of measurable value. The institutionalized state is more difficult to translate to acrobatics in an informal economy such as slums because the chances of acrobatics being institutionalized are small. However, it still holds relevance because the institutionalized state helps to enforce symbolic capital. furthermore, according to Bourdieu’s theory, the other types of capital do not necessarily have the feature of being able to be embodied, objectified and institutionalized. However, the individual embodiment, objectification and institutionalization of cultural capital does lead to accumulation of the different types of capital.

Social Capital

The third type of capital is social capital. Social capital is the network that an individual creates when they become a part of a group (Bourdieu, 1986). This group collectively owns and provides social capital which can be used to accumulate cultural and economic capital. In the case of the acrobats, their involvement in a team is dependent on the social capital of the team and its individual members. Furthermore, this social capital is also directly dependent on the strength of the collective efficacy of the team. This means that the better a team works together and broadens their skills, the more shows they secure and the bigger their network grows which results in greater social capital.

Symbolic Capital

Symbolic capital is the way in which someone’s perspective of themselves is objectified through, for example, awards, diploma’s and personal expenditures such as art (Bourdieu, 1984). Through symbolic capital a person creates a self-image of power that becomes internalized (Bourdieu, 1984). Symbolic power is important because it can lead to acquisition of other types of capital. For example, an acrobat who sells their skills is dependent on the willingness of other people to purchase rights to observe their skills in order to expand their symbolic capital. If

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people do purchase tickets to a performance the acrobat benefits financially. Furthermore, symbolic capital through art is more significant for higher class people as they can afford to pay for such art. Therefore, as previously mentioned, the identification of acrobatics as either a sport or an art is essential to attracting different audiences. This is because according to Bourdieu, if acrobatics was only seen as a sport it would mainly be watched by a middle-class audience (Bourdieu, 1978). However, due to acrobatics being a unique hybrid between sport and art, it is consumed by various audiences which creates a balanced demand for the art and sport. This has positive effects because it allows acrobats to efficiently convert their symbolic capital into economic capital. Thus, as soon as symbolic capital is recognized it changes into economic or cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1984).

Physical capital

Taking the unique nature of acrobatic training into account, another type of capital that can be identified is physical capital. Physical capital can be based off of Loic Wacquant’s contribution of bodily capital (Wacquant, 2004) with some additional factors to be considered. Wacquant sets out bodily capital based on the fact that in boxing the practitioners are very dependent on their body for their career (Wacquant, 2004). Their bodies are the center of their life as they use them for their work as well as to influence their accumulation of different types of capital. Their bodies are a result of their past training and current life style (Wacquant, 1995). This can very well be compared to acrobatics where the body is the acrobat’s tool and any injuries can render an acrobat’s career. Similarly, acrobats need to pay attention to their body weight, rest patterns and nutrition in order for them to function optimally in training. Moreover, in acrobatics awareness of others is crucial to prevent accidents and anticipate unexpected events such as the collapse of a human pyramid. Body awareness and flexibility which were identified as skills obtained from doing acrobatics (Maglio & McKinstry, 2008) can also be classified as physical capital. As acrobats need to train until their bodies can perform the choreography fluently without having to think about the movements. Physical literacy defined by Simunkova, et al, (Simunkova, et al., 2013) and specifically the inventory of skills leads to expanded physical capital as well. Finally, body posture, strength and a healthy image which were all seen as positive

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results of participating in sports by Bourdieu (Bourdieu, 1978) are factors building up one’s physical literacy. These skills combined are what develop physical capital which is different in nature to the previously mentioned types of capital due to its focus on bodily qualities. As a result of this, physical capital becomes the fifth and final capital type included.

With this I have identified the skills acrobats acquire and how these can be translated into various types of capital that result in monetary gain. The next section will analyze how the different types of capital and skills help the acrobat through a more personal development viewpoint via trajectories.

Trajectories

To fully answer the question of how different types of capital can be accumulated it is necessary to identify how these types of capital can be used and what opportunities they lead to. This does not only include acrobats’ futures but also how the different forms of capital have affected their past. To do this, I will analyze if and how the acrobats use certain types of capital based on their life stories.

As acrobatics is usually practiced in a team, trajectories need to be looked at from both an individual and collective perspective. Individually, Bourdieu states that one’s trajectory is build up by dispositions often formed by the way people perceive themselves and their specific role within the social world (Bourdieu, 1984). For Bourdieu, self-perception, or what he refers to as habitus is built from the habits and skills that a person holds as a result of their past (Bourdieu, 1984). Since it has already been identified that sports can lead to a better lifestyle, general empowerment and personal skill development, it could be argued that these positive habits and skills lead acrobats to have a better perception of themselves and thus increased symbolic capital. This would then lead to greater confidence and the ability to successfully solve personal challenges.

Collectively, Bourdieu highlights that the social world and thus the people surrounding an individual can be an influencing factor on one’s trajectory. He sets this out by emphasizing that people who classify together are more likely to develop a similar life style and therefore accumulate similar capital (Bourdieu, 1984). This can impact acrobat’s lives towards both sides

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of the spectrum, for example, negatively due to peer pressure to take part in illegal activities, or positively where a team rises up together. This interdependence between the individual and agency lead to accumulation of capital for both the team as well as the individuals.

Furthermore, one person’s individual efficacy is dependent on their trajectory, which will then also influence the collective trajectory (Bourdieu, 1984). In acrobatics, this is relevant because a group might identify a common goal which will create a common trajectory which could influence all individual’s lifestyles to synchronize. This interdependence provides support for how symmetry in lifestyles and networks can influence the acrobat’s future trajectory positively.

Lastly, the acrobats could gain different opportunities through their job that can influence their trajectories. The biggest opportunity within the specific context of Kenya is the fact that it could offer a form of employment. This employment could come from within Kenya as well as abroad, which would lead to completely new opportunities in the shape of travelling abroad. Moreover, research by Fraser-Thomas, et al., has shown that participating in sports can have a positive influence on one’s social network with opportunities such as the improvement of social status (Fraser-Thomas, et al., 2005).

Conclusion

To establish the skills that need special focus in the data analysis, a distinction between sports and performing arts has been made. In addition to this, it has been concluded that acrobatics possesses traits from both arts and sports which allows participants to gain a variation of skills both individually and collectively as a team. It has been identified that through performing arts these skills are mainly creativity and self-expression. On the other hand, skills that are acquired through sports and specifically acrobatics are communication, health, energy and willpower. Furthermore, the importance of collective efficacy in the acquisition of skills was recognized. The theory shows how collective efficacy contributes to a stronger sense of unification, group solidarity and community and therefore the building of character and leadership skills. In aggregate, the above discussion enables the research to identify the different types of skills developed through acrobatics

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From this, the different forms of capital were elaborated on to allow for a more tangible overview of how acrobats gain from their training and performances. Besides the four common types of capital: economic, cultural, social and symbolic, a fifth type of capital was developed, namely: physical capital. This enables the research to focus more on how the body is used as a tool and the qualities or skills that the body develops independent of the mind. All forms of capital reinforce one another and the accumulation of one leads to a positive cycle of accumulating others. Furthermore, they all create different types of resources that individuals can use in their lives.

Finally, a general understanding of how these types of capital can influence the future of an individual and create opportunities was built through the study of trajectories. The goal of the data analysis will be to classify the different life stories of the acrobats into the different types of capital. This will allow the research to analyze how the types of capital work out in real life and how they affect each other through interdependency. Moreover, the team aspect of acrobatics reveals a perspective on how being part of a team with collective efficacy can influence an individual’s capital accumulation. Here it could be argued that if a team works well together, all individuals within the team can collectively gain capital while benefitting individually.

To bring this into practice, the next chapter will present the research design that has been used for data collection in order to answer the research question.

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Chapter 3: Research Design

This chapter will present an outline of the methods used to gather data that will help to answer the research question and sub-questions formulated below. The research question and sub-questions are based on the theoretical framework. The research took place over a 10-week period from January 24th_{until March 28}th_{in Nairobi, Kenya. Due to an already established} network a local supervisor was not necessary.

Research Question and sub-questions

Research Question: What are skills that youth in Kangemi, Nairobi develop through acrobat training and how do these translate into capital that they can use in their lives?

Sub-questions:

• What are the skills that acrobats develop?

• How can these skills be classified into the different types of capital that have been identified?

• How can they use these types of capital in their lives?

Conceptual Scheme and Operationalization

The conceptual scheme presented in figure 1 shows how the research has been conceptualized. The large outer square represents the acrobats in the Kangemi slum, who are the participants of this research. The data collection process will focus on finding out how training in acrobatics and being part of performances leads to the development of both individual and collective skills. These skills feed into capital accumulation and will be translated into the different types of capital set out by the theoretical framework. Finally, there will be an analysis showcasing how these different types of capital have influenced acrobat’s lives.

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The operationalization table presents the conceptualization of skill development, capital and trajectories. The dimensions of skill development are performance skills and sport skills. For capital, there are the economic, cultural, social, symbolic and physical capital dimensions and the conceptualization of trajectories is divided up into individual and collective trajectories. The operationalization shows how the indicators of the skill development and capital concepts could potentially influence acrobat’s trajectories. To eventually come to a conclusion on how trajectories are affected, the focus of the research will be on skill development and how that translates into capital.

Concepts Dimensions Variables Indicators

Skill development Performance skills Production Use of creativity Brainstorming Communication Collaboration Solution seeking Audio-visual data Performing Team work during

performance Improvisation Showmanship Musicality Self-expression Audio-visual data Sport skills Bodily skills Posture

Strength Flexibility Balance Precision Energy Coordination Body awareness Awareness of others Inventory of skills Healthy image Personal skills Self confidence

Trust in oneself Character building Leadership

Courage Willpower

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Fear overcoming Risk taking

Striving for excellence Resilience Joy Fulfillment Motivation Planning Ambition Self-organization Determination Perseverance

Life style Diet

Smoking Alcohol Drugs Violence

Distraction from unhealthy habits

Upkeep physical activity Team work Unification

Connect with people Community feeling Conflict resolution Intercultural understanding Organization Group solidarity Collaboration Awareness of others Feelings of loneliness Interactions Integration Collective efficacy Awareness raising Trust in team Collective power Group dynamics Coordination Regulations Collective resources Weak links Interdependence

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Cooperation Inspiration Support

Control and help each other Communication

Audio-visual data Capital Economic Capital Monetary gain Money earned

Costs being payed Material gain Clothing

Training material Gifts

Cultural Capital Embodied Skills gained Time investment Objectified Performance creation

Number of performances Consumption performances Institutionalized Recognition

Qualifications Symbolic Capital Self-image Awards

Diplomas

Personal expenditures e.g. art

Social Capital Individual network Training friends Non-training friends Family

Collective network Team contacts Team friends Team leader Coaches Supporters

Audience members Physical Capital Bodily Capital

(Wacquant) Body dependency Protection of body Nurturing of body Rest Nutrition Safety Body weight Body awareness Flexibility Strength Body posture

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Healthy image Inventory of skills Acrobat’s life Individual

Self-perception/Habitus

Skills as result of past Life style Individual goals Interdependence Opportunities Employment Travelling Network expansion Media attention Diversification Collective Collective efficacy Life style of group

Individual trajectories influencing the group Common goals Interdependence

Research Location

As already stated, this research was conducted in a slum known as Kangemi that is located in Nairobi, Kenya. Kangemi can be found on the West side of Nairobi near the border of Kiambu County. Figure 2 shows the exact location of this slum within the Nairobi County. Here, I joined a team of acrobats that train in the Kangemi social hall almost every morning. Data collection took place in the training hall during training and in an office next to the hall where I conducted most of the interviews. This area was chosen out of convenience. I was referred to this training-site by another acrobat because there was a big group of youth training there who were willing to welcome me. Even though all the youth trained in the Kangemi slum, they were all born in different areas in Kenya. In fact, most train in Kangemi and live in other areas around Nairobi.

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Figure 2. Research location in Nairobi, Kenya. Maps derived from:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kenya_in_Africa_(undisputed_only).svg; https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/kenya-political-map-capital-nairobi-national-208602298; http://hungrycities.net/city/nairobi-kenya/

Research Methodology

Unit of analysis

In order to allow myself to classify acrobat’s stories in the different types of capital, I gathered data about skills that acrobats gain as well as their life stories over a period of ten weeks. The youth that participated in this research were acrobats between the ages of 25-35 years old. All interviewees are male, this is due to the fact that most youth who are involved in acrobatics in Nairobi are male. Initial access to the interviewees was obtained through an already existing network in Nairobi among the acrobats creating a snowball effect. Because of the friendship that was built up between the acrobats and myself, they were willing to participate in the interviews and share their life stories.

To gather information on the unit of analysis, observation and participation notes were taken of approximately 20 acrobats during training. Despite all acrobats being male, a growing

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interest from females was observed over time. Unfortunately, I was unable to interview these women. However, this growing interest enabled me to take some notes on how the acrobats reacted to women participating in their training. All participants in the acrobat training were above 18 years old with the exception of two young street boys who joined in on one training.

Furthermore, during the data collection process, acrobats often referred to a circus school called Sarakasi. I therefore decided to interview the managing director of this circus school. It was easy to obtain access to her because we both knew the same acrobats. This created an instant connection that resulted in an opportunity to train at her circus school for a day enabling me to collect further field notes.

The field notes as well as the interviews enabled me to gather solid information on the skills that the acrobats obtained from their training. This information in turn helped me to find out about the different forms of capital that the acrobats possess. The life history part of the interviews is integral to placing the types of capital into the acrobat’s contexts and consecutively analyze how the capitals can be classified within acrobat’s experiences.

Data collection methods

The most suiting data collection method to answer the sub-questions is through qualitative data collection methods. As the theoretical framework suggests, a lot of the skills gained from being in sports or performing arts are difficult to measure and open to interpretation. Due to this, qualitative research allows for an insider’s perspective on the participants view, resulting in a more complete set of data that can answer the research question adequately. Moreover, a lot of research done on similar topics has been based on qualitative research (Kabiru, et al., 2013; Maglio & McKinstry, 2008; Thieme, 2010). Varying methods of data collection ensure triangulation, resulting in different perspectives and views on the research question (Ritchie, et al., 2013). The data collection methods used are: participant observation resulting in fieldnotes, audio-visual data and in-depth interviews. These methods are deemed appropriate for this research due to a personal perspective on good research in development studies that focusses on a bottom-up approach. I aim to “truthfully reflect aspects of the lived

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realities of actors” (Gitonga, 2015: 985). This approach allows for an evaluation of the research question from the perspective of the participants.

Participant observation, field notes and audio-visual data collection

To answer the first sub-question which focusses on the skills that acrobats develop, participant observation methods are used for data collection. Specifically, skill development indicators such as communication, team work, showmanship, awareness of others, leadership, collaboration, interactions and group dynamics are more easily identified through participant observation.

My 10 weeks of active participation in the trainings of the acrobats allowed for a bond of trust and mutual understanding which created a more authentic view of their lives. I was able to level with them,

whilst staying aware of the inherent differences we have (Thieme, 2010). Participation reduced the obvious gender difference between the acrobats and myself and allowed the acrobats to see me as an equal within their occupation. Prior to participating, I took the time to get to know the team. Together with a translator we explained the purpose of the research and the key reason why I was there. My historic experience in high-level gymnastics training enabled me to keep up with the long and tough trainings that lasted three to six hours each day of the week. For the entire duration of my stay I trained with the acrobats on a daily basis. I took daily field notes of my observations and conversations with the acrobats. These field notes focused on the indicators of skill-development identified in the operationalization table. Audio-visual data was obtained in the shape of videos and photos from the trainings and performances. These video’s will

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specifically allowed me to analyse teamwork between the acrobats focussing on indicators such as: communication, interactions, collaboration and coordination. Furthermore, the documented field-notes enabled me to reflect on my own position within the field (Drew, et al., 2010). During training and performances, special notes were taken on skills that the acrobats possess which are unique to their occupation, through indicators mainly under the bodily skills indicator of the operationalization table. Moreover, the observations allowed for an initial analysis of how the skills obtained can be translated into capital.

In-depth interviews

To get a well-rounded perspective on all skills obtained, in-depth interviews were conducted. These interviews did not only aim to shed light on skill development, but also to find out how and whether different types of capital such as economic, social, symbolic and physical capital have an effect on acrobats’ trajectories. This could allow me to classify these stories within the different types of capital. Here, indicators were mainly inspired by the economic, social and symbolic types of capital.

Prior to starting the interviews, I trained with the acrobats for about two weeks in order to form a bond and give them the chance to get to know me and ask questions. Moreover, being part of the team enabled me to have open communication which then allowed me to design the interviews more accurately to the acrobat’s realities (O’Brien, 2010). The interviews allowed for a deep and personal understanding of the lives of the acrobats (Ritchie, et al., 2013). All the interviews were conducted in English and ranged between 50 and 120 minutes in duration.

The interviews were semi-structured to allow for flexibility, probing and adjustments to unexpected influences. Moreover, it gave the interviewee space to move the interview in a

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direction that they thought was most important but still within the existing framework (Ritchie, et al., 2013). This structure was chosen because it gave the interviewee the freedom to direct the conversation. Initially, it was not my intention to ask for life-stories, as it is very personal. However, the conversation often led to life-stories, therefore, the structure of the interviews was changed to focus more on life-stories.

Limitations and methodological reflection

As previously mentioned the research was only conducted with one specific group which can be considered as a sample of a much larger population of acrobats. No interviews were conducted with other groups from other areas which may appear to make information limited and thus generalization of the research difficult. However, there were two other group observations from within Nairobi, one at the circus school: Sarakasi and the other in another slum located on the East-side of Nairobi: Huruma. There were also some further observations of a training group in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania at the circus: Mama Africa.

Despite English being one of Kenya’s official languages, the use of English in the interviews could sometimes limit the expression of the acrobats because it was usually their second or third language besides Swahili and their mother-tongue/tribal language. I tried to overcome this by learning a bit of Swahili and by making sure to always ask the interviewees to explain things that I did not understand. Vice versa it was the same during the interviews if I said something the acrobat did not understand. They generally did not shy away from asking questions and requesting clarifications.

A final limitation was a political disruption in the second week of the research. Due to this, it was no longer safe to be in the slums where training took place and therefore the acrobats and I did not train that week. After a week of political tensions and the shutting down of three main news-channels, tensions subsided and training was resumed4_.

4_{As this political disruption did not last very long, it did not significantly influence my research. I was lucky,} because if it would have lasted longer it could have influenced my research significantly. In fact, I used the time in which I was unable to do my research in Nairobi to travel to Tanzania and do some observations of acrobats at a