Swedish study circles encounter Kenyan chamas: a case study on the global interaction of traditions in non-formal adult education

ABSTRACT This article reports an empirical case study of a community self-help group (chama) in Western Kenya, utilising the study circle model promoted by a Swedish non-governmental organisation. Methodologically, it is a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and participant observation for data collection. The results show that the study circle idea was transferred and translated through a locally pre-existing social infrastructure for learning, i.e. a farming collective organised and based on the widespread Kenyan tradition of chama. When the chama embraced the study circle and made local sense of it, they did so by mainly sticking to the same form of meetings and activities they previously had. The added value of referring to the activity as a study circle was that it expanded the group’s networks and increased its chances to invite specialists for consultation. Also, some increase in status for the group compared to other (non – study circle) chamas was noted.


Introduction
This paper presents an empirical case study of a community self-help group in Western Kenya utilising the study circle model promoted by a Swedish non-governmental organisation. For decades, adult education and lifelong learning have been addressed as key factors for development in Africa (Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 1965;Preece & Veen, 2007;Walters et al., 2014). Non-formal adult education has been pointed to as an essential aspect in creating a learning society in contexts where formal educational systems offer limited opportunities for low-skilled adults. The idea of supporting non-formal adult education has long been embraced in international aid projects. For Nordic countries such as Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden -well-known for their traditions of popular education, including non-formal adult education arrangement such as folk high school and study circles -this has been evidenced through various international aid projects aimed at developing countries, most notably in relation to countries in Eastern Africa (Nordvall, 2018;Rogers, 2000;Österborg Wiklund, 2019).
However, although they are often singled out for their tradition of popular education (Laginder et al., 2013), Nordic countries are not unique in having a rich tradition of non-formal models of adult education based on self-organisation, small groups and close links to the local community. This is also the case for Africa, not least Eastern Africa, where indigenous knowledge systems have created strong community-based infrastructures for learning (Amutabi & Oketch, 2009;Nafukho et al., 2005;Swai, 2010).
The intention of this article is to contribute to the understanding of what happens when new non-formal adult education models are disseminated through international aid and then implemented and interpreted in contexts where there is already a rich indigenous tradition of informal education. Through an in-depth analysis of a specific case, including the introduction, adaptation and implementation of study circles in an East African context, we aim to contribute with knowledge about the effects of the spread of Scandinavian popular education models in the region.
We have analysed the case with a focus on how interactions between different knowledge systems and learning traditions affect the design of non-formal and informal adult education groups in contexts characterised by a colonial history. Guiding research questions have been: In what way is the study circle transformed and reinterpreted in the encounter with the local context and its informal educational traditions? What significance does the study circle have for socioeconomically vulnerable groups? What significance does the introduction of the study circle model, with its Scandinavian origins, have in relation to reproducing or transcending colonial power structures? To address the preceding questions, this paper specifically focuses on interactions between the Scandinavian model of study circles and the Kenyan tradition and practices of chama: informal financial cooperative societies, often for women, which operate as what are sometimes referred to as 'merry-go-rounds'. Through an in-depth analysis of a specific case of introduction, adaptation and implementation of study circles in an Eastern African context, we aim to contribute knowledge about the impact of the spread of Scandinavian popular education models in the region. However, we also believe that case studies like ours will offer insights into the challenges of, and possibilities for, community development in relation to the transfer of nonformal educational models in the global North-South direction. Accordingly, we anticipate that the findings can be considered generalisable, in the sense that our results could potentially be used by other researchers and practitioners to interpret cases with similarities of context or patterns (Larsson, 2009). However, we do not claim that the study is representative, or even typical, for the implementation of study circles in African or Kenyan contexts in general.

The spread of Nordic popular education ideas in Eastern Africa
Since the 1960s, Scandinavian popular educators have spread ideas about folk high schools and study circles (folkbildning) in Eastern Africa (Nordvall, 2018;Rydström, 1996). The most obvious example is the implementation of Folk Development Colleges in Tanzania during the 1970s, supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), which resulted in more than 50 folk high school-inspired adult education intuitions still in operation (Rogers, 2013(Rogers, , 2018. Swedish popular educators involved in the establishment of Folk Development Colleges in Tanzania claimed that the Nordic tradition of 'folkbildning' could be a tool for decolonialization (Norbeck, 1985). With its egalitarian structures, oral orientation and roots in popular movements, it was perceived as an alternative to authoritarian educational traditions spread by the former colonisers (Rydström, 1996). In a study of the Folk Development Colleges as an example of educational transfer, Rogers (2000) also found a common ideological familiarity between the ideas on adult education of Julius Nyerere, the former Tanzanian president and a prominent African intellectual, and the Swedish tradition of popular education. However, as demonstrated by Dahlstedt and Nordvall (2011), the anti-colonial rhetoric of Swedish popular educators engaged in Tanzania went hand-in-hand with the formation of a Swedish national identity constructed in relation to colonial stereotypes of the 'primordial Other' and the 'Enlightened European'. Thus, paradoxical elements can be traced in the Swedish engagement in Tanzania, at least on a discursive level and in relation to identity processes among Swedish popular educators.
Still, there is a lack of in-depth empirical research on actual practices -i.e. non-formal educational activities organised in Eastern Africa with support from Swedish aid organisations -and how the Nordic popular education models have been implanted. Some research indicating the present status of the Folk Development Colleges in Tanzania exists (Rogers, 2000(Rogers, , 2013(Rogers, , 2018. The influence of Nordic popular education ideas in Kenya is less explored, save for some research done on the implementation of study circles in rural communities in the coastal regions (Ater & Hatakka, 2013Hatakka et al., Hatakka et al., 2019. Hatakka et al. (2019) explore the role of study circles as part of a project focusing on introducing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to enhance member's economic opportunities. They conclude that the combination of democratic and participatory non-formal education that characterised the study circles with support in terms of computers, printers, and Internet access, led to positive economic outcomes for the participants. By introducing ICT in combination with an educational approach based on the participants' own interests, articulated in an open and informal setting, the project enhanced learning and agency tied to the real needs of the participants, according to the authors. The analysed study circles were based on groups that "already existed as community groups" (ibid., 68), which received training in the study circle model as it has been developed in the Swedish tradition of popular education (Ater & Hatakka, 2013, pp. 84-85). However, although a link between the new study circles and pre-existing local social structures is implied by Hatakka et al. (2019), the report does not address the interaction or dynamic between how the study circle idea was translated and adapted to the social order of the existing community groups. Herein lies a gap that we address in this paper.

Theoretical perspective
Inspired by the arguments of neo-institutional researchers such as Czarniawska and Sevón (2005), we argue that globally mobile educational ideas and concepts such as the study circle are translated in local contexts, in the sense that they are transferred, transformed and given new meaning. Consequently, 'a thing moved from one place to another cannot emerge unchanged: to set something in a new place is to construct it anew' (Czarniawska & Sevón, 2005, p. 8). When studying the global dissemination of adult education ideas and models of European origin in African contexts, it is crucial to emphasise both the contingency of the local adaptation processes with respect to the spread of ideas, as well as the presence of global power structures and discourses with origins in the colonial era (Nordvall, 2018). The strong presence of a will among Scandinavian actors to show the way towards development in countries of the global South indicates a discourse on international solidarity that contains elements from colonial legacies (Dahlstedt & Nordvall, 2011). Thus, the often explicitly anti-colonial intentions expressed by Scandinavian popular educators involved in spreading study circles and folk high school ideas may very well include elements of cultural imperialism, as described by Edward Said (1995). In our investigation of the local process in which the study circle was translated and given a new meaning, we paid special attention to patterns indicating the influence of colonial power structures and ideology. Specifically, we looked for narratives that indicated the production of oppositional binaries or dualisms creating a relationship between 'the West and the Rest', where Europe and the West (including Sweden) are associated with culture and reason, as well as development and progress, while Kenyans and other Africans are associated with nature and emotionality, underdevelopment and backwardness (Hall, 1992;Said, 1995).
We also looked for indications of binaries, as shown in previous studies on NGOs' involvement in development aid in Africa, between African models and practices that are branded as inferior, and new (preferred) models and ways of life that are held to be in accordance with Western norms and Eurocentric knowledge systems (Amutabi, 2006, p. 56).
However, instead of presupposing the influence of such cultural-imperialist elements or any other predefined functions of the study circle in the studied context, our analytic attention is directed by an interest in the local meanings and social functions of the study circle. Our focus is on how the Kenyan actors involved in the spread and organisation of the study circle made sense of it in relation to their needs and interests. Instead of applying, for instance, the full conceptual tool kit associated with neo-institutional theory, which was developed in relation to formal organisations, we apply an open, qualitative approach in our analysis of Kenyans' sensemaking to grasp how the meaning of study circles is construed in relation to their experiences and life situations.
Our inspiration from the neo-institutional strain of organisational theory on the travelling of ideas is mainly twofold. First, we understand the travelling of ideas as a reconstruction process dependent on local interpretation processes and local dynamics. Second, we perceive materialisation as a precondition for ideas to travel. That is, ideas or practices cannot travel: only objects and people can. For ideas to travel, they must be materialised into objects (such as models, books, PowerPoint slides etc.), or at least find their way into someone's head (Czarniawska, 2009, p. 425). Consequently, we are not making any claim of locating the spread of the study circle in any general or abstract way. Our research focus is oriented towards the study circle idea as it has materialised in a specific chain of interactions: that is, the materialisation and reconstruction of the study circle idea though a specific channel of communication, initiated through the Swedish-based NGO We Effect, with branches in the region, and mediated through national and local partner organisations in Western Kenya, which spread the message of the study circles model to potential participants. 1 Our focus is on the process of local sensemaking regarding study circles. We do not claim to capture the intentions of We Effect or their perspective on the spread of study circles. 2 The chain of communication described consequently reflects how it was interpreted by our Kenyan informants, which is our focus.

The study circle model
Before we introduce the local context and the method of the study, a few words need to be said about the Scandinavia study circle model by way of background. In the Scandinavian context, a study circle refers to a group of people who meet regularly on a voluntary basis and study together. Study circles were developed as an educational method in the context of popular movements of the early 1900s and are associated with democratic and egalitarian ideals formulated by movement intellectuals at the time. Oscar Olsson (1877Olsson ( -1950, an oft-quoted movement intellectual of that time, who is referred to as the father of study circles, emphasised that popular education and study circles should not just be for the people, but by the people. Another canonised movement intellectual of the time, Rickard Sandler , founder of the Swedish Workers' Educational Association, emphasised the need for openness and pluralism when organising study circles. There should not be one interpretation of how a study circle should be organised and what it should be about but many, depending on groups' needs and interests (Larsson & Nordvall, 2010). However, over time, and in relation to the development of a system for state support for study circle activities, more distinct criteria and regulations for the study circle model have been developed. In contemporary Sweden, study circles are a mass phenomenon involving a substantial part of the population, organised by civil society-based study organisations which receive state subsides. Study circles cover a wide range of topics, ranging from cultural activities to language study, politics and crafts, and there is great variation among different groups when it comes to how they meet and interact (Larsson & Nordvall, 2010). Pastuhov (2018) notes that study circles, on the one hand, could be defined as adaptable to changing circumstances and the needs and the interests of participants. On the other hand, definitions could also consist of idealistic perceptions, linking them to ideas about democratic citizenship that do not necessarily correspond to actual practices. Thus, there is a potential discrepancy between ideals and actual practices of study circles in Scandinavia, a fact that has been pointed out in previous research.

Methodology
In studying the local interpretations of the study circle idea, we utilised a qualitative research strategy that primarily involved semi-structured interviews for data collection. We also made participant observations. The study was set in rural western Kenya, among a largely farming community, where We Effect promoted the use of study circles as part of development aid programs focusing on environmental conservation.
Our ambition in this paper is not to identify the core meaning of study circles. Instead, we pay attention to how the study circle idea is materialised and interpretated in a local context. The most common materialisation of the study circle idea used by the people we interviewed was a PowerPoint presentation on the topic developed by the Swedish NGO We Effect and used by partner organisations in the region. This PowerPoint presentation stressed both the Swedish history and tradition of study circles and principles of organising them, as described above.
Our study focuses on how one umbrella organisation, which we here give the pseudonym Miti Mingi, picked up the study circle idea through contact with We Effect and promoted its implementation through a local community group, or chama, which in this article we give the pseudonym Mazingira. We use the pseudonyms Miti Mingi and Mazingira for ethical reasons to reduce the risk of individuals being identified.
Among the development activities that We Effect sponsors in Kenya is environmental regeneration, which Miti Mingi -a leading national umbrella farm forestry organisation -promotes. In turn, Miti Mingi supports Mazingira, a local community collective in western Kenya. The Mazingira collective is a chama (Swahili for 'association'), a Kenyan term for cooperative associations such as rotating microcredit and investment groups or agricultural co-ops which pool together members' funds or assets. Chamas are made up of people with a shared vision and, in most cases, needs. Traditionally, members of chama were women, in line with prevailing strict gender roles and responsibilities (men ensured survival of the family and home, while women offered support in terms of advice and domestic chores) (Karani, 1987;Sifuna, 1990;Srujana, 1996;Staudt, 1987). However, this is changing, as men have started registering in these groups (Njoroge, 2015). Indeed, Kenya's strict gender divisions were even further enforced and reinterpreted by British colonisers, who first gave men relevant training and paid employment in the colonial posts they set up in the new colony and then elevated men's status in the community by giving them the privilege of having money to use (Srujana, 1996;Staudt, 1987). However, current chama bear a resemblance to these traditional women's collectives insofar as they are informal groups of people converging to save and borrow pooled resources in a rotational manner, as well as to tap into important networks when faced with different kinds of problems (Kosiley, 2014). Since the chama meet regularly, they offer a community-based structure that is useful for community capacitybuilding activities, such as that led by International Foundation of Electoral Systems when they conducted a women's empowerment and community education program before the Kenyan general elections of 2017 (IFES, 2017).
The participants interviewed for this project were the Mazingira collective members and Miti Mingi members, and thus were purposefully sampled. First, we looked for sites in Kenya where study circles had been implemented. We did so by mapping the initiatives of We Effect, an organisation that has promoted the study circle idea as a tool for socio-economically vulnerable groups (especially small-scale farmers) in the region for many years (Chipeta et al., 2018). This is how we located Miti Mingi, which in turn directed us to the Mazingira collective, where ongoing study circle activities were being held for a group of small-scale farmers. The selection of this case was thus the result of a combination of our strategic intention to locate local processes in Kenya where the study circle was being implemented, and pragmatic considerations related to the suitability of this setting for the purpose of our study. The Mazingira collective has over 50 members. Because there are both active and inactive members, it is not easy to give an exact figure. Four Miti Mingi members in total were interviewed on one occasion, and five Mazingira members participated, three of whom were interviewed twice, and two of whom were visited at home for observations. The interviewees from Miti Mingi were selected based on their strategic positions as managers and organisers within the organisation. This gave them an overview of the processes of receiving information on the study circle idea from We Effect and spreading it among farmers. The interviewees from Mazingira were selected based on the criterion that they had participated in study circle activities on a regular basis (not just occasional visits at meetings). We interviewed both a study circle leader (who gave us information about frequent participants) and frequent regular participants, both female and male, who were small-scale farmers.
The purpose of the observations, which were made after the interviews, was to provide a richer understanding of the daily activities described by the informants and to enhance the interpretation of the interview data. Hence, the observations gave us the chance to clarify specific details mentioned in the interviews regarding the social context in which certain knowledge received in the study circles becomes useful.
The semi-structured interviews with Miti Mingi members sought to understand their encounters and relationships with We Effect and the study circle model. The interviews with the Miti Mingi representatives aimed to explore how the We Effect study circle training was received and understood, and how the study circle training that was subsequently passed along to Mazingira members was organised. The semi-structured interviews with Mazingira members sought details on the study circles training received from Miti Mingi, and of particular importance, the way that Mazingira members interpreted this training in their day-to-day activities of improving their community. For instance, what was the value they placed on this training and how did they understand the study circle model? How did they organise study circle meetings, and what did they learn from them? How were they experiencing the study circles as a tool for improving their lives in the community and how were they interpreting it and including it in the arsenal of knowledge that they already had? These individual interviews also highlighted the participants' views on the challenges and opportunities inherent in using study circles as community development tools.
The researcher and co-author who conducted the interviews and observations is from western Kenya and speaks fluent Swahili, Dholuo and English. The informants were offered the opportunity to conduct the interviews in the languages they were most comfortable with. At the beginning of each interview, the informant was informed about the purpose of the study, the voluntarily participation, and the confidential data procedure. Quotes have been translated into English by this co-author. In the adaptation, data was transcribed and translated from a mixture of English and the national language, Kiswahili.
The study adopted Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase framework for performing thematic analysis. The six steps are transcription, organising data, coding, deducing categories, identifying common themes and maintaining a reflective journal. The thematic analysis was theoretically informed, in the sense that we assumed that the 'travelling' study circle could be followed as a materialised idea, transported through its inscription in objects and people's minds; we therefore directed our interest towards the processes of reconstructing (new) meanings associated with this idea during its travel in Kenya (see Figure 1). When analysing the process of reconstructing meanings related to the study circle, we particularly considered whether meaning was constructed in a way that produced value hierarchies between the Swedish or European origin of the circle and the local African context in which it was interpreted.
When constructing the themes, we aimed to identify key elements through which informants made sense of the reception and implementation of study circles in the chain of interaction we studied. The thematic analysis is primarily based on interview transcripts, which were read repeatedly. The themes were identified through a collective process of interpretation and reinterpretation among the authors. Notes from observations were used solely as a resource to help us understand the everyday life contexts and practices described by the interviewees in the analysis.
The themes capture the general patterns we identified in the material. These themes represent qualitatively different ways of constructing meaning in relation to the various steps involved in the studied chain of interaction and implementation of the study circles.
The four main themes we identified are (1) Embracing a foreign idea for local use, (2) Pragmatic implementation through pre-existing infrastructures, (3) From foreign model to local livelihood tool and (4) Incorporation as status upgrade. These themes capture the main forms of reasoning found in the data set regarding the implementation and use of study circles. Themes 1 and 2 reflect the approaches found at Miti Mingi, and themes 3 and 4 reflect the approaches found at Mazingira. Taken together, we argue, they reflect the various forms of reasoning and sense making of the study circle model during its travel to and interaction within the local context.

Embracing a foreign idea for local use
Miti Mingi was introduced to the study circle idea by We Effect in 2016. We Effect was running an environment conservation campaign, which Miti Mingi was invited to participate in. We Effect's intention, as interpreted by Miti Mingi, was to work with local organisations already carrying out projects on environment conservation and with a wide reach in Kenya (as Miti Mingi had). Thus, in 2016, as an aspect of this We Effect initiative, selected members of Miti Mingi were trained to disseminate the study circle idea among their regional affiliates as a tool for use in environmental conservation. As part of the training, one whole session was allocated to describing the history of study circles and their Swedish origin (Study circle training materials, 2016): The Study Circle method of non-formal adult participatory education has been a part of democracy in Sweden for almost 100 years. It started at the end of the 19th century. At that time Sweden was underdeveloped and had large social and economic inequalities. There was poverty in the rural areas, bad living conditions, a high illiteracy rate and lots of social unrest.  The material thus emphasised the importance of the study circle for the development of Swedish society from a poor underdeveloped country to the type of democratic welfare society it is today. The Miti Mingi trainers attending the We Effect-led workshop understood and appreciated the study circle as quite an important community development strategy. They thought that all community collectives to be introduced to the study circle model needed to know its history in order to have a background of knowledge for their activities and an understanding of the basis for the procedures used in study circles. Participants in the We Effect training were made aware that they were free to make their own conceptualisations of study circles. According to Edwin, a Miti Mingi trainer, his understanding of study circle activities did not necessarily include politics, but most importantly should include social issues that impact their lives. He said: . . . in the context of Miti Mingi, I can say study circles are an arrangement where farmers organize a forum where they are able to learn from each other . . . not more than 10 . . . . They can also bring in someone with expertise on a certain subject that they want to learn about. They then learn in their context. Edwin, Miti Mingi When asked whether the study circle model was specifically for farmers, Edwin said that for those at Miti Mingi, this was the case, because the association worked with farmers. But he personally thought that it could be useful in many other contexts aside from farming. This is because it offered a structure that could be useful for any development activity that required capacity-building among community members.
According to the training offered to officers at Miti Mingi, the study circle was presented as being able to create an opportunity for personal growth through sharing the experiences of different participants in the group. Participants in study circles are able to understand others' views and utilise what they can from others to improve their own lives. Study circle members are able to work with others to improve their collective experience in the community and to satisfy people's innate desire to learn in general.
Indeed, in the training session, the structure and ground rules for successful engagement in the study circle were elaborated. These include mutual respect, avoiding hierarchical relationships and listening to all voices represented in the study circle. The material included the following answer to the question 'What is a study circle?' A study circle is a group of people with common goals who meet to share ideas and provide opportunities to learn, improve skills and increase development. This is done on a regular basis with voluntary participation in a democratic environment. The group meets over 5 to 10 meetings to study a selected topic. The purpose of the group meeting is to learn together and share experiences.
Martin, another trainer, after going through study circle training, thought it was an important tool that would be immediately useful for local farmers, given the current gaps created by inadequate resource allocation to support activities in farming communities. In answer to the question about his initial thoughts about what a study circle was, before he was trained: I read the history of study circle and how it brought in a lot of social change in Sweden at a time when not many people were formally educated, and they did not know their rights . . . and the study circle was used to disseminate information to them and they became empowered . . . and I compared that to where we are at this time when [farm]  When further prompted, this trainer went ahead to elaborate what he meant by 'if well implemented'; he noted that, although the farmers received the idea well and were enthusiastic to take part in study circles, due to resource constraints, Miti Mingi could not afford to keep staff at all of their affiliate association sites to monitor how the farmers trained in using study circles picked up its usefulness to solve the problems they experienced. When farmers needed information materials, they relayed that information to Miti Mingi, and staff there downloaded the required material from the web or liaised with other partners to have the material sent to the farmers. The farmers thus needed to have someone in place to provide the materials they needed.
Material used by We Effect to train the Miti Mingi members showed that they were being trained to be trainers for the affiliate associations. The training session content included how to form a study circle, the responsibilities of study circle leaders and members, and study circle monitoring tools. The training took two days to complete.
The Miti Mingi informants we talked to describe the first encounter with the study circle idea, which they refer to as a model with Swedish roots but which they found very relevant to communities in Kenya. Thus, here we can see the emergence of a narrative celebrating a foreign idea and its potential to make a great contribution in relation to the local context.

Pragmatic implementation through pre-existing infrastructures
To form a study circle, Miti Mingi suggested to affiliate association members that they could latch onto existing structures in their associations to recruit members to the study circles. These structures included local chamas and the Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA), which already had peer memberships. All participants were able to take part in the study circle without paying any course fees.
Miti Mingi was an organisation whose purpose was to increase tree cover in the country to benefit farmers and had been started in the early 2010s. Since it was dependent on donor funding (We Effect being one such donor), it had the obligation to uphold the donor guidelines when training affiliates. These guidelines included ensuring that they maintained 37% female involvement in any training or development activity they undertook using We Effect funds.
Miti Mingi staff trained members of their western Kenya affiliate, Mazingira, on developing and using study circles in 2016. The Miti Mingi trainers used the training material sourced from We Effect almost in its entirety. The important difference here is that the language used in training was a mixture of English and Kiswahili (Kenya's national language, which almost all Kenyans speak).
The study circle members from Mazingira were drawn from among local farmers, most of whom were already members of local chama groups (some of which, at this time, had both men and women). Activities such as tree nursery development and food security activities attracted many more women than men, and at times drew no men at all. The chama offered the study circle model a structure through which to enter the community of Mazingira members, because not only did the chama offer a ready-formed group of people familiar with each other, with a shared goal; it also offered a group ready to learn, given that they already practiced educational activities. Of the approximately 50 chama members, there were further smaller groupings within the chama of up to eight members who were interested in learning skills to improve their living status. This number was limited, because members wanted a small group that offered the advantage of being more interactive and able to comprehensively explore individual challenges when learning a skill. Thus, every study circle meeting would have up to eight members. Regarding forming new study circles when old ones resolved, as well as options for women, Mazingira's CEO Paul stated: For example, the women saw that their main challenge at home was getting food [food security] so they formed a study circle for food. They prioritized food. They meet every Monday at 8 am and contribute 300Ksh [approximately three USD] to buy food to give to one member per week.
Thus, the study circle became part of a pre-existing structure organised around chamas, in which people got together to give each other practical support and share knowledge of practical use. Hence, a narrative about the implementation of study circles, highlighting practical and pragmatic considerations, emerged in the interviews.

From foreign model to local livelihood tool
The Mazingira membership is made up of farmers, most of whom practice mixed farming, keeping animals and growing crops. These people have learnt farming from various sources, such as their parents. Some members learnt from neighbours, and women were especially eager to share their knowledge to improve other people' lives: When I moved here, I realized that neighbors were not buying vegetables, and also chicken. So I challenged myself also not to buy. So I decided to plant, because you can see how the neighbors have done it, and they can explain to you where you do not understand. Especially planting carrots and cabbages -you know, us from our homes, we don't have that knowledge. Linet, Mazingira member Linet further explained that the reason for engaging with women in the community was that they were readily available to help: You go to the shamba [an area of mixed food crops and forest resources] and probably after seeing her good vegetables you can ask, how did you prepare your vegetables? Then she may take the seeds to show you. So she will demonstrate how it is done as you observe. So again, when am doing it at my place, I call the person who taught me and ask, am I doing the right thing? What did you say we do here?
To stress the practical usefulness of the study circle, one member stated that when the study circle came to her association, she realised its usefulness and, together with her group members, started using it. The group members are people who already knew each other and were able to quickly form a study circle focused on a common need they faced.

So the study circle has allowed us to get information, because when you say your dairy cow is giving eight liters and theirs is giving two liters, you can learn from each other. Study circle has made us get a lot of information.
It has even got to the level of study circles for food aside from farming, new ideas are coming up. Even others were suggesting to have a study circle for paying school fees. You see, so people have embraced it, and they are coming up with many good news ideas. Jared, Mazingira member For Mazingira members who were interviewed, their relationship with the new knowledge they obtained from the study circles involved selecting what they considered important for their lives and leaving behind what didn't work for them. For example, although Linet was involved in activities such as raising chicken, using the knowledge she picked from her parents and other relatives she had come in contact with, she learnt how to raise them better thanks to what she learned at the study circle. She had not taken her chicken-rearing activities seriously enough, and so she had not been keen to learn many details about that process from her contacts. Being involved in the study circle about chicken rearing offered her an opportunity to focus more on this activity and gave her a community of peers to whom she reached out for supervision as she improved her chicken-raising activity. This new knowledge about chicken husbandry, including better practices for feeding and shelter, made her a better farmer. She says: Before, I used to give my chicken kitchen waste. I realized that when chickens eat salt, they get sick and die. Kitchen waste has a lot of dirt, which is poisonous for chickens. Chickens also need to be kept in clean surroundings. Chickens need your care, just the way you care for yourself. Linet, Mazingira member Linet also claims that she learnt form the study circle that to make more of a profit from chicken rearing as a business, she needed to invest both time and resources to get maximum returns. This involved buying feed and ensuring her chickens were clean and healthy.
Members of Mazingira describe being inspired by other participants in the circle to deepen the knowledge and interests that they had previously developed in various ways in life. For Mazingira member Jared, a fruit farmer, being involved in a study circle spurred his appetite for learning, which led him to seek information from sources such as the internet, fruit markets and other farmers. He worked as a semi-skilled labourer, learning on the job, as a shipbuilder, maintenance worker at a gold mine in Tanzania, and later as a driver for the cotton industry in Tanzania. When he returned home in 2003 and was looking for a way to support his family, it was natural that he would turn to agriculture. Raised in a farming family and with a father who had himself been trained at an agricultural college, he felt 'at home' in agriculture. However, his land was too small to plant enough of the Kenyan staple, maize, to feed his family and still have a surplus to meet his financial obligations. He started farming Irish potatoes, which he had found other locals were also farming, but he soon realised that when there was a glut of potatoes, he could not make much profit selling his harvest. He then ended up planting and selling passion fruit, after doing research and realising that it could fetch more money. He ignored all the nay-sayers who wondered whether he could feed his family through fruit farming alone.
As time went on, he kept diversifying the types of fruit he planted, according to how much money it could fetch him in the market and how suitable his farm was for growing it. He says he was open to learning and trying new things because of his involvement in study circles. When we visited his farm, he had a variety of fruit plants, including kiwi, passion fruit, tree tomato, grapes and strawberry. He describes how he got information about taking care of these fruits from many sources, including other farmers, the internet and experts that he met at study circle meetings.
The meaning that the members of Mazingira attribute to study circles consequently refers to questions about their own livelihood. They highlight the value of study circles in terms of knowledge and relationships that have had concrete significance in their efforts to develop their agriculture.

Incorporation as a status upgrade
Not all chama in the community where Mazingira is located have had the opportunity to learn how to incorporate study circles into their activities. Indeed, Mazingira only got this chance to be trained in using study circles because of their established link (as an affiliate) to the Miti Mingi organisation. This affiliate status allows them to receive available technical support from Miti Mingi, study circle training being one of such support. The Mazingira members felt that this training, and their subsequent use of study circles in their chama activities, made them stand out among other chama in the community because through the circles they were able to identify the skills that they needed and ask for support from Miti Mingi to access training.
When the circle is complete, we decide what else we need to learn to improve our lives. After we agree on the next skill, we are able to ask Miti Mingi if they can identify an organization or persons to train us. . . . We do not pay for this because we are affiliated with Miti Mingi. Linet, Mazingira member The skills and benefits that individual chama members were able to accrue using study circles very much improved their status in the community compared to members of other chamas that did not have the opportunities to use such skills.
Paul was an administrator in Mazingira and was referred to as the CEO. He was remunerated for a few hours of work a week, through a small allowance from group funds, such as proceeds from its tree nursery business. He kept group records, identified and organised activities such as training with organisations wishing to give the group technical support, and performed other administrative duties. As mentioned earlier, Miti Mingi offered Mazingira technical support.
Paul drew up the rules of conduct for study circle members. In addition to the general rules about study circles presented by We Effect and discussed earlier, Mazingira, as a local affiliate of We Effect, also added their own rules to ensure good discipline in the study circles, such as being punctual and not interrupting the chairman when he was speaking. Paul said that because of the importance of the skills learnt in study circles, they were able to levy a small fine on those who came late to meetings. This fine was used to get a member to explain to the latecomer what they missed in the meeting. Members who were late for study circle sessions paid a fine of one shilling per minute, up to a maximum of 200 shillings, or about US$2.00. This rule ensured member punctuality and was not necessarily viewed as a practice that made study circle membership undesirable. Members who missed a study circle session entirely were fined 200 Kenyan shillings (enough to purchase at least 2 kilograms of maize flour, a staple in Kenya). Members also contributed at least 50 Kenyan shillings to a cash pool used to buy refreshments during meetings, which sometimes overlapped with mealtimes. These rules ensured that members took study circle activities seriously. When asked the reason for the punitive rules (such as paying a fine for being late or missing circle meetings), Paul explained: When asked about the members' feelings concerning the rules, Paul said: They take them seriously because they know what they are learning is for their own benefit. Since they have agreed to go for the lessons, so they abide by the rules.
The fee also became a symbolic indication that this was an important context, as well as that the individual and their presence were important. Rather than being viewed as a repressive and serious practice, the inclusion of late fines was something that was joked about in the group and something that gave tardy members a little extra attention. However, having rules and penalties in the way described above is not a common practice at other chamas that do not use study circle processes. The attractiveness of study circles, including their aura of higher status, was a precondition for this practice to function.

Discussion
Our study shows that the study circle idea was transferred and translated through a pre-existing local social infrastructure for learning: farming collectives organised based on the widespread tradition of chama in Kenya. The study circle idea was materialised in PowerPoint presentation materials from a Swedish NGO that highlighted the historical background of the study circle in Scandinavia and the democratic ideas associated with it. Although the importance of this historical origin of the study circle was emphasised in interviews with representatives of the mediating umbrella organisation, Miti Mingi, which introduced the idea locally, it became a non-issue for members of the local community who utilised the study circle. For these participating members of the farmers' collective, the study circle remained one more community development tool that was barely attached to Sweden and Scandinavian origins. This was the case despite a narrative that pointed to the strong link between study circles and Swedish society and their development, which characterised the information about the study circle model spread by the Swedish NGO We Effect. This narrative, which seems to be influential at the managerial level in Miti Mingi, faded away when the study circles were put into practice at the grassroot level.
The participants from Mazingira chama collective reconstructed the meaning of the study circle, mainly as a tool to gain practical knowledge of relevance for farming and family support. When the chama embraced and made local sense of the study circle, they did so by basically sticking to the same form of meetings and activities they previously had. The main added value of referring to the group as a study circle was that it expanded the groups' networks through the Miti Mingi collaboration and increased its chances to invite specialists for consultation. Also, some increase in status for the group compared to other non-study circle chamas was noted.
Contemporary ideals and practices of study circles in Sweden are often characterised by a high level of horizontal relationships and highly individualised motives for participation; they are considered places where participants are often looking for personal development beyond domestic demands and those related to working life. In contemporary Sweden, study circles have been described as spaces where participants may enact their individual wishes and personal interests in a welfare state where their basic social needs have already been met (Sundgren, 1999;Pastuhov, 2018). In contrast, as adapted and practiced by the Mazingira collective, study circles in western Kenya focused more on improving the lives of members without unduly emphasising any details of hierarchy. There were also punitive elements, in that participants were fined for missing or arriving late for meetings or talking while the chairman was talking. However, these elements can be seen as a result of hierarchical patterns and influence of the participants, in that they were agreed within the groups as a way of creating order and discipline.
In the narratives of Mazingira members about the study circles, we cannot find the binary oppositions that reproduce colonial power structures, such as those pointed out by Dahlstedt and Nordvall (2011) in their analysis of Swedish popular educators' descriptions of the spread of popular education ideas in Tanzania. In that sense, the results do not indicate the presence of cultural imperialism in terms of processes and practices promoting an idea of European origin (the study circle) over indigenous ones. If any such tendencies were to be observed, they remain within the narratives produced in interviews with actors at the managerial level, where we found reverent depictions of study circles that emphasised their northern cultural origins.
However, although no messages about the superiority of Swedish or European cultural ideas were spread or picked up at this grassroot level, we did find that the spread of the study circles created distinctions between chamas. Indeed, to some extent it can be said that the study circles introduced a hierarchy among chamas, in that the ones that received support to start study circles by We Effect and Miti Mingi were placed at a higher level compared to other local chamas without such support. The experienced value of being part of a study circle version of the chama also made it possible to establish rules and penalties for late arrival in a way that was not common in other chamas. This type of disciplinary measure is also not used in Swedish study circles, to our knowledge. Thus, this practice most likely seems to be an example of how interaction between two traditions may produce rather unexpected outcomes, due to local processes that reconstruct the meaning of travelling ideas. Our interpretation is that this outcome had to do with the high status ascribed to study circles in this particular setting.
In this respect, the introduction of study circles followed a pattern resembling the effects often pointed to as signifying cultural imperialism: decreased status for existing social practices and increased status for practices introduced through Western connections (Amutabi, 2006). But on the other hand, in its locally reconstructed form, closely integrated in an existing social infrastructure, the stratifying effects of the introduction of study circles into chamas appears more related to networks with associations such as Miti Mingi, than to the symbolic value of their Western origin (seemingly unknown to the local participants), or any ideological effects from their European origin. The increase in status thus followed from the fact that the circles were perceived as valuable and useful in relation to everyday needs.
Although the chama's version of the study circle differed from many of the ideals linked to study circles in the Scandinavian tradition, this transformation was fully in line with the thinking of some of the early promoters of study circles in Sweden, such as Oscar Olsson and Rickard Sandler, who envisioned them in the early 1900s as something that should develop organically and suit users in their differentiated circumstances and contexts (Larsson & Nordvall, 2010). In addition, as pointed out in previous research on study circles, a discrepancy between study circle ideals and actual study circles is widespread phenomenon in the Swedish context, too (cf. Pastuhov, 2018).
Further research should be done to evaluate the long-term impact of study circles on communities and chamas. Such research could focus on issues such as sharing information and the types of information shared. It could also go further to examine and evaluate study circles' impact on individual chama members' life experiences and how much they improve participants' lives, both in terms of the physical resources they are able to access and in how open they are to accepting and using innovative ideas and sharing them to improve the lives of others. In this study, we gathered anecdotes about how study circles had improved members' lives, but this could be investigated more systematically.
The study does raise questions about the role of the study circle as a model being the prime reason for the type of positive meanings ascribed to it. The participants' appreciative descriptions of what they experienced in the study circle may also be understood as being related to the social infrastructure that already existed, the chamas, in combination with the added resources in terms of contacts and the opportunity to invite resourceful guests. In light of this, questions can also be raised regarding the positive values of the introduction of study circles in Kenya highlighted by Hatakka et al. (2020), which in their study were introduced at the same time as computer and internet resources were added. In that study, the study circles also seem to have been introduced in relation to existing social infrastructure, in the form of local community groups.
In light of both Hatakka et al.'s study and the results of our study, we believe that there may be reasons to add nuance and specificity to the local value of study circles for structurally vulnerable groups in contexts characterised by a colonial history, such as the ones we studied. Rather than being a reflection of the implementation of study circles alone, it is more reasonable to interpret the positive values described by participants as reflecting the interplay between existing social infrastructures, the supply of new resources (new networks or technical and material resources), and the encouragement of interaction and knowledge exchange in small groups that study circles encourage. Notes 1. We Effect was founded in Sweden in 1958. Much of their work is based on collaboration with cooperative organisations in various parts of the world, and they argue that cooperatives were a fundamental part of the modernisation of Sweden. In line with that idea, they support cooperatives and other democratic membership organisations in developing countries (We Effect, 2021). 2. For a more hands-on and best practice-oriented perspective based on a We Effect-initiated evaluation of farmer study circles in eastern Africa, see Chipeta et al. (2018).