Philip O. Onguny
Profile
Professor Philip Onguny’s research interests revolve around three topic clusters: political violence, identity-based conflicts, and role of media in conflict transformation and peace-building. He is also interested in the politics of international development and humanitarianism in fragile and/or conflict-affected societies. Professor Onguny is currently working on a SSHRC-funded project seeking to develop a comprehensive typology of frames to increase our understanding of the core issues fuelling ethno-political violence and land-based conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project draws on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Kenya.
- Ethnic violence
- Globalization and information and communication
- Conflict management and resolution
- International Development
Ph.D., Communication (International Communication & Development)
Université de Montreal, Montreal, Canada
M.A., Organizational Communication
Université de Rennes 2 – Haute Bretagne, Rennes, France
Keene State College, New Hampshire, USA (under exchange program)
B.A., Information & Communication Sciences (Journalism & Media Studies)
Université de Rennes 2 – Haute Bretagne, Rennes, France
My current research, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), seeks to develop a comprehensive typology of frames to help explain how, why, and by whom electoral violence and land-based conflicts are incentivized in Sub-Saharan Africa. This two-year project (2017-2019) draws primarily on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Kenya.
SSHRC Insight Development Grant (IDG)
Principal Investigator (PI)
2017-2019
Books Authored:
1. Onguny, P. Media and Election Violence in Kenya: A Function of Discursive Frames [under revision for Roman & Littlefield, Lexington]
Books Edited:
1. Dieng, M., Onguny, P., et Souaré, I. (dir.) (2019). Lutte contre le terrorisme en Afrique: Acte de bienveillance ou prétexte géostratégique? Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
Special Issue Edited:
1. Dieng, M. & Onguny, P. (2020). The Changing Security Landscape in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges (Issue No. 2). African Journal of Terrorism & Insurgency Research, 1(2), 5-111. https://journals.co.za/toc/aa.ajtir/1/2
Refereed Chapters in Books:
1. Onguny, P. (2019). « Communication gouvernementale et lutte contre le terrorisme au Kenya ». Dans M. Dieng, P. Onguny et I. Souaré (dir.). Lutte contre le terrorisme en Afrique: Acte de bienveillance ou prétexte géostratégique?(pp. 187-202). Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
2. Dieng, M., Onguny, P. & Souaree, I. (2019). « Enjeux théoriques et pratiques de la lutte contre le terrorisme en Afrique ». Dans M. Dieng, P. Onguny et I. Souaré (dir.). Lutte contre le terrorisme en Afrique: Acte de bienveillance ou prétexte géostratégique? (pp. 7-17). Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
3. Onguny, P. (2016). “Indigenous Language Radios in Kenya and the Negotiation of Inter-Group Relations during Conflict Processes”. In A. Salawu and M. Chibita (eds.). Indigenous Language Media, Language Politics and Democracy in Africa, (pp. 151-181). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
4. Onguny, P., & Traoré, C. (2015). « Crises environnementales et conflits interethniques au Kenya et au Mali ». Dans A. Lafrance, H-D. Cissé, et L. Saadaoui (dir.) Communication et Sociétés en Crise: Savoir y entrer, pouvoir en sortir (pp. 289-301). Paris: L’Harmattan.
Refereed Book Reviews:
1. Onguny, P. (2021). Review of Regime Threats and State Solutions by Mai Hassan. Global Change, Conflict & Security, 3(1), 93-94.
2. Onguny, P. (2021). Review of The Security Arena in Africa: Local Order-Making in the Central African Republic, Somaliland, and South Sudan by Tim Glawion. Africa, 91(2), 343-345.
3. Onguny, P. (2020). Review of Varieties of Democracy: Measuring Two Centuries of Political Change by Michael Coppedge et al. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 53(3), 722-733.
4. Onguny, P. (2020). Review of Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics by Phil Clark. Peace & Change, 45(3), 460-463.
5. Onguny, P. (2020). Review of Electoral Politics in Africa Since 1990: Continuity in Change by Jamie Bleck & Nicolas Van de Walle. Modern Africa, 8(1), 141-144.
6. Onguny, P. (2019). Review of Institutions and Democracy in Africa: How the Rules of the Game Shape Political Developments by Nic Cheeseman (ed.). African Journal of Democracy & Governance, 6(4), 155-158.
Refereed Journal Articles:
1. Onguny, P. (Accepted). Role of Media in Community-based Peacebuilding: A Critical Assessment. Peace and Conflict Studies
2. Onguny, P. (2021). Communication Studies, Interdisciplinarity, and the Quest for Knowledge. Canadian Journal of Media Studies, 17(1), 6-37.
3. Onguny, P. (2021). The Politics of Impunity and the Shifting Media Landscape in Kenya. Athens Journal of Mass Media & Communications, 7(1), 61-78.
4. Onguny, P. (2020). Why the Kenya-Somalia Maritime Dispute is Far from Over Regardless of the ICJ Ruling. Harvard Africa Policy Journal, 14(Spring), 41-51.
5. Onguny, P. & Malik, A. (2020). Emphasis Frames, Elite Strategies, and Mass Participation in Election Violence in Kenya. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 38(4), 560-578.
6. Onguny, P. (2020). The Politics Behind Kenya’s Building Bridges Initiative (BBI): Vindu Vichenjanga or Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing? Canadian Journal of African Studies, 54(3), 557-576.
7. Onguny, P. (2020). Framing the War on Terror in Kenya: Perspectives on the Attacks at Westgate Mall and Garissa University. African Journal of Terrorism & Insurgency Research, 1(1), 77-101.
8. Dieng, M., Onguny, P. & Mfondi, A. (2020). Leadership Without Membership: France and the G-5 Sahel Force. African Journal of Terrorism & Insurgency Research, 1(2), 21-41.
9. Onguny, P. & Gillies, T. (2019). Land Conflict in Kenya: A Critical Overview of Literature. The East African Review/Les Cahiers d’Afrique de l’Est, 53(0), 1-23.
10. Onguny, P. (2019). Alternative Media and Mediated Political Participation: A Conceptual Discussion. Global Media Journal-Australian Edition, 13(1), 1-10.
11. Onguny, P. (2019). Electoral Violence in Kenya 2007-08: Role of Vernacular Radios. Journal of African Elections 18(1), 86-107.
12. Onguny, P. & Gillies, T. (2019). Assessing the Agency in Media Narratives for Community-based Peacebuilding. Global Media Journal-German Edition, 9(2), 1-17.
13. Onguny, P. (2019). Mediated Political Participation and Competing Discourses of Online Civic Engagement. Journal of Development & Communication Studies 6(1), 36-47.
14. Onguny, P. & Mfenguie, R. (2019). Résilience, capacité de l’État et défis de développement durable dans les zones à risque. International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 8(4), 1-13.
15. Onguny, P. (2017). International News Coverage of Insecurity and Human Suffering in Africa’s Great Lakes Region. Journal of Media Critiques 3(12), 121-138.
16. Onguny, P. (2014). Potential of Mobile Media as a Space for Political Deliberation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rhodes Journalism Review 34(0), 71-74.
17. Onguny, P. (2012). Exploring the Dilemmas of Peace in the East African Community (E.A.C.): Implications of the 2007-08 Conflicts in Kenya. Harvard Africa Policy Journal, 7(Spring), 1-10.
Papers Revised & Resubmitted to Referred Journals:
1. Conflict over Land in Kenya’s Tana River County and Competing Sense of Belonging. Global Change, Peace & Security [revised & resubmitted]
2. Dynamics of Security and Conflict in Africa’s Great Lakes Region (with Peace N. Mukazi). African Journal of Democracy & Governance [under revision]
Onguny, P. (2020, May). Land Conflict in Kenya: The Guilt of Doing Little and the Cost of Doing Nothing. Paper to be presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies, University of Western Ontario – cancelled due to the COVID-19
Onguny, P. (2019, November). Conflict over Land in Kenya’s Tana River County and Competing Sense of Belonging. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the African Studies Association (ASA), Boston, United States.
Dieng, M. & Onguny, P. (2019, November). Violent Extremism and the Search for Belonging in Africa’s Sahel Region. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the African Studies Association (ASA), Boston, United States.
Onguny, P. (2018, April). Transforming Africa’s Rural Livelihoods Though Digital Technologies to Increase Community Resilience. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the International Studies Association (ISA), San Francisco, United States.
Onguny, P. (2017, October). Digital Platforms and Sustainable Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa: Perspectives from Kenya. Paper presented at the 2017 Global Fusion Conference, Ohio University (Athens), Ohio, United States.
Onguny, P. (2017, May). Mobile-Based Digital Technologies and Sustainability of Rural Livelihoods. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Communication Association (CCA), Toronto, Canada.
Malik, A. & Onguny, P. (2016, December). Elite and Mass Perspectives on Election Violence in Kenya. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the African Studies Association (ASA), Washington DC, United States.
Onguny, P. (2016, May). Media Coverage of Impunity and the Safety of Investigative Journalists in Africa. Research poster presented at the UNESCO’s Research Conference on the Safety of Journalists, Helsinki, Finland.
Onguny, P. (2015, November). The Feasibility of Using Mobile-based Technologies to Transform Intergroup Conflicts and Humanitarianism in Sub-Saharan Africa. Paper Presented at Saint Paul University Noon Seminars.
Onguny, P. (2015, October). Rethinking Social Justice and Economic Empowerment in Africa through Digital Technologies. Paper presented at the 2015 Global Fusion Conference, Texas A&M University, Texas, United States.
Onguny, P. (2015, July). Using New Media for Conflict Mitigation in East Africa. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the IAMCR, Montreal, Canada.
Onguny, P. (2015, May). Rethinking Peace Education and Conflict Prevention in Africa Through Digital Media Platforms. Paper presented at the 13th Annual International Conference on Communication & Mass Media, Athens Institute for Education & Research, Athens, Greece.
Onguny, P. (2015, February). Role of Mobile Media in Supporting Humanitarian Activities in Crisis-Affected Areas. Paper presented at the Global Humanitarianism & Media Conference, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Onguny, P. (2014, July). Using Interactive Media Platforms to Strengthen Humanitarian Response: Case Study of the Ushahidi platform. Paper presented at The Humanitarian Innovation Conference, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Onguny, P. (2013, May). Le traitement médiatique des relations interethniques lors des conflits en Afrique sub-saharienne: le cas des radios vernaculaires au Kenya. Paper presented at the 81st Annual Congress of the ACFAS Association (Association Francophone pour le Savoir), Quebec, Canada.
Onguny, P. and Traoré, C. O. (2013, March). Communication de crise et les enjeux environnementaux des conflits interethniques au Kenya et au Mali. Paper presented in collaboration with Cheick Oumar Traoré at the Annual Conference of AMEDDIAS Association, Luxembourg.
Onguny, P. (2012, December). Vernacular Radios and Conflict Framing in Africa: Perspectives on Kenya. Paper presented at the Annual Conference on Journalism and Communication (JMComm), Singapore (Best Graduate Student Paper Award, 2012).
Onguny, P. (2012, May). The properties of Interethnic Accommodation in Mediatized Conflicts. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Communication Association (CCA), Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Onguny, P. (2012, February). The Politics of Ethnicity in Kenya’s Vernacular Radios: Between Differentiated and Concerted Framing. Paper presented at an International Conference, “Beyond Normative Approaches: Everyday Media Culture in Africa”, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Onguny, P. (2011, April). Re-examining Kenya’s Stability Threats Within the East African Community. Presented at the Annual Conference of the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS), McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Onguny, P. (2008, May). L’impact de Nation Media Blogs sur les élections présidentielles de 2007 au Kenya: un pont pour les citoyens marginalisés? Paper presented at the 76th Annual Congress of the ACFAS Association (Association Francophone pour le Savoir), Quebec, Canada.
Discussant, “a pandemic of misinformation” by Dr. Joan Donovan, Midday Seminars organized by Conflict Research Centre (CRC) in collaboration with the School of Social Communication, February 2021.
Discussant, roundtable discussions on “information and communication technologies, community engagement, and international development” at the annual gathering of the Canadian Communication Association (CCA), June 2017.
Organizer, Midday Seminars (Brown Bag Seminars), School of Social Communication, Saint Paul University, 2015-2017.
Presenter, “The feasibility of using mobile-based technologies to transform intergroup conflicts and humanitarianism in sub-Saharan Africa”, Midday Seminars (Brown Bag Seminars), Saint Paul University, November 2015.
Panel Chair (replacement), “Othering, Conflict, and Identity”, at the annual gathering of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), July 2015.
- Dean’s Honours List, Keene State College
2005 - Best Student Paper Award, International Conference on Journalism and Mass Communications
2012
- Onguny, P., Interview with Louka Jacques on conflicts and political instability in Africa’s Great Lakes region, featured in “Les Voies du Retour – Les Chercheurs”, ICI Radio-Canada Première, March 4th, 2016
- Onguny, P., Interview with Michel Gailloux on electoral crises in Africa – the case of Zimbabwe, featured in « Debout VM », Radio Ville-Marie, August 3rd, 2018