Youth at the Crossroads. Discourses on Socio-Cultural Change in Post-War Northern Uganda
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ased on eleven months of field work (2009-2011), this book analyzes the situation of youth 7 Göttingen Series in Bin urban Gulu, Northern Uganda, in the a ermath of the war between the Lord’s Resistance Social and Cultural Anthropology Army and the Ugandan Government (1986-2006). Specifically, it focuses on the generation that was born and grew up during the 20-year war: How do members of this generation perceive and evaluate socio-cultural changes which occurred in Acholi society throughout the war years? Julia Vorhölter How do they imagine their future society? And how do they react to the expectations directed at them by their elders? In order to answer these questions, the book draws on rich ethnographic material. It provides an in-depth analysis of how imaginations of the post-war society are contested and negotiated between di erent groups of social actors – youth and elders, men Youth at the and women as well as local, national and international actors. While some try to re-establish former cultural practices and conventions and call for a ‘retraditionalization’ of Acholi society, Crossroads others lobby for ‘modernization’ and attempt to establish ‘new’ social structures, values and Discourses on Socio-Cultural Change norms which are strongly influenced by local understandings of ‘the Western culture’. The book in Post-War Northern Uganda presents numerous examples of the multiple and complex ways young people strategically position themselves in these debates and make use of the various discourses on culture, tradition and modernity in their negotiations of generational, gender, family, and peer-to-peer relations. Youth at the Crossroads Julia Vorhölter studied Anthropology and Political Science at Hamburg University and holds a PhD in Anthropology from Göttingen University. Her research experiences include field studies in Uganda, South Africa and Niger. Since 2008, she has been working as a lecturer and research associate at the Julia Vorhölter Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology in Göttingen. ISBN: 978-3-86395-169-6 Universitätsverlag Göttingen Göttingen University Press ISSN: 2199-5346 Julia Vorhölter Youth at the Crossroads This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Published in 2014 by Göttingen University Press as volume 7 in “Göttingen Series in Social and Cultural Anthropology” This series is a continuation of “Göttinger Beiträge zur Ethnologie”. Julia Vorhölter Youth at the Crossroads Discourses on Socio-Cultural Change in Post-War Northern Uganda Volume 7 Göttingen Series in Social and Cultural Anthropology Göttingen University Press 2014 Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliographie; detaillierte bibliographische Daten sind im Internet über <http://dnb.ddb.de> abrufbar. “Göttingen Series in Social and Cultural Anthropology” Editors Prof. Dr. Elfriede Hermann Prof. Dr. Andrea Lauser Prof. Dr. Roman Loimeier Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Schareika Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Theaterplatz 15 D-37073 Göttingen This work is protected by German Intellectual Property Right Law. It is also available as an Open Access version through the publisher’s homepage and the Göttingen University Catalogue (GUK) (http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de). The conditions of the license terms of the online version apply. Set and layout: Steffen Herrmann Cover: Friedlind Riedel Cover picture: Lioba Lenhart © 2014 Göttingen University Press http://univerlag.uni-goettingen.de ISBN: 978-3-86395-169-6 ISSN: 2199-5346 For Lisa Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................13 1. Introduction ........................................................................................17 Prolog: Barbra’s Dream .............................................................................18 1.1. The War in Northern Uganda: Insecurity, Displacement & ‘Cultural Breakdown’ ...............................................................................................21 1.2. Growing up in Times of War: Acholi Youth ............................................ 23 1.3. Key Research Questions, Objectives & Hypotheses .................................25 1.4. State of the Art: Past & Contemporary Debates in the Anthropology of Youth ............................................................................ 28 1.4.1. History of Youth Research in Anthropology ..................................28 1.4.2. Defining Youth: Conceptual Challenges & Debates ......................30 8 Julia Vorhölter: Youth at the Crossroads 1.5. Defining Youth in Northern Uganda .......................................................36 1.6. State of the Art: Contemporary Debates on Youth & Socio-Cultural Change in Africa ..................................................................................... 39 1.6.1. Victims or Agents? Makers or Breakers? .........................................41 1.6.2. Tradition & Modernity, Africa & the West ...................................44 1.7. Specific Contribution of my Research ......................................................46 1.8. Analytical Framework ..............................................................................48 1.8.1. Foucauldian Discourse Analysis .................................................... 48 1.8.2. Power-Knowledge ..........................................................................50 1.8.3. Discourse & Power as Analytical Concepts ....................................52 1.9. Structure of the Book .............................................................................. 58 2. ‘My Field’ – Changing Perceptions of Research in a Post-War Setting ..................................................................................61 2.1. Entering ‘The Field’ ................................................................................. 62 2.2. Reflecting the Notion of ‘Field’ ................................................................66 2.3. Fieldwork in Gulu: Basic Overview of Research Methods .........................67 2.4. Progress of Fieldwork ............................................................................... 70 2.5. Biases Inherent in my Research Approach .................................................74 3. The War in Northern Uganda – Conflicting Interpretations ............. 77 3.1. Different Accounts of Ugandan History from the Perspective of the Sociology of Knowledge ...........................................................................78 3.2. Colonial Times: Dominant Interpretative Schemes ................................. 83 3.3. Critical Debates on Colonial History .......................................................85 3.4. Postcolonial Developments: Dominant Interpretative Schemes & Critical Debates ....................................................................................... 88 3.5. Critical Debates on the Lead-up to the War .............................................92 3.6. The War in Northern Uganda ..................................................................94 9 3.7. Critical Debates on the War: Official Discourse versus Counter Discourse ...................................................................................98 3.7.1. The Role of the LRA ....................................................................102 3.7.2. The Role of Museveni, the NRM Government & the UPDF .......108 3.8. Concluding Remarks – Changing Hegemonies of Interpretation ............109 4. “Our Culture is getting lost!” – Pre- & Post-War Representations of Acholi Culture ....................................................113 4.1. Acholi Culture 2.0 ..................................................................................114 4.2. The Miss Acholi Contest – Extracts from my Field Notes .......................118 4.3. Pre-war Ethnographies: Representations of the Ideal Acholi Society ...... 122 4.3.1. The Origin(s) of the Acholi .......................................................... 122 4.3.2. Socio-political Organization ........................................................ 124 4.3.3. Social Organization & Family Life .............................................. 130 4.3.4. Economic System ........................................................................ 136 4.3.5. Religious & Spiritual Beliefs .........................................................140 4.3.6. External Influences & Socio-Cultural Changes before the War ....144 4.4. The Situation in the Camps & the Perceived Effects on Acholi Culture ...................................................................................................147 4.4.1. Economic Sphere: Impoverishment & Loss of Former Living Standards ..........................................................................150 4.4.2. Social Sphere: Increase in Gender & Generational Conflicts ........152 4.4.3. Political Sphere: Foreign Occupation & Loss of Self-Determination .......................................................................157 4.4.4. Ethical Sphere: Loss of Morals, Respect & Values ........................159 4.5. Contemporary Attempts to Reconstruct “Traditional Acholi Culture”................................................................................................. 164 4.5.1. The Revival of Traditional Authorities: Rwodi Moo & Ker Kwaro Acholi .........................................................................165