UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN Department of Administration and Organization Theory AORG350 Master's Thesis in Administration and Organizational Science SPRING 2018 Relations between Knowledge and Politics in an Authoritarian Regime The Academic Profession at Makerere University, Uganda Andrea Kronstad Felde Table of Contents List of Tables IV Acronyms V Acknowledgements VI Abstract VII Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Objective and Research Questions 1 1.2 Brief Background to the Study 2 1.3 Delimitation and Specification 2 1.4 Previous Research on the field 3 1.5 Outline of the Paper 6 Chapter 2: Context of the Study 7 2. Introduction 7 2.1 Politics in Uganda 7 2.2 Historical background; Makerere University 8 2.3 Makerere University today 10 2.3.1 The CHUSS and the SoL 11 2.3.2 The Academic Profession at Makerere University 11 Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework 12 3. Introduction 12 3.1 Knowledge 12 3.1.1 Cognitive knowledge 13 3.1.2 Capacity to act 13 3.1.3 Academic Profession 14 3.2 Knowledge-politics relations 15 3.2.1 Differing orientations 16 Table 1: Differing orientations in politics and science 3.2.2 Interlinks 17 Table 2: Interlinks and dependencies between science and politics in democratic societies 3.3 Political system and the role of knowledge 19 3.3.1 Modernity and democracy 21 3.3.2 The Role of Knowledge 23 3.3.3 Academic Freedom 24 3.4 This study 25 Chapter 4: Research Methodology 27 4. Introduction 27 4.1 NORHED Research Project 27 4.2 Qualitative Approach 27 4.2.1 Interpreting and Understanding vs. Causal Explanations 28 4.2.2 Case Study – What is this a Case of? 29 4.3 Data Collection 30 4.3.1 Unit of analysis and the sample 32 4.3.2 Feedback Seminar 32 4.3.3 External Informants: Journalists and Human Rights Lawyer 33 4.3.4 Politicians 33 4.3.5 Interview Guide 34 I 4.3.6 Documents Reviewed 35 4.3.7 Gaining Access to Informants 37 4.3.8 Ethics 37 4.4 Steps of Analysis – Coding and Interpretation 38 4.5 Credibility, Validity and Limitations of the Study 39 Chapter 5: The Relationship and Interplay Between Knowledge and Politics 42 in Uganda Empirical Findings - Part One 5. Introduction 42 5.1 The View of the Academics 42 5.1.1 Current Work Situation at Mak 43 5.2 Relevance of Knowledge 44 5.2.1 Influence 46 5.3 Support to and Use of Knowledge 49 5.3.1 Interest in Knowledge 49 5.3.2 Scientific Knowledge – a Base for Political Decisions? 51 5.3.3 Reading culture 51 5.3.4 Valued 52 5.3.5 Support to the STEM-disciplines 53 5.4 Political Engagement and Engagement with Society 54 5.5 External Actors and Secondary Sources – Contrasting Views? 56 5.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks 57 Chapter 6: Academic Freedom and Constraints - Empirical Findings – Part 59 Two 6. Introduction 59 6.1 The View of the Academics 59 6.1.1 Internal Limitations 59 6.1.2 Formal and Informal Use of Power 60 6.1.3 Academia as protected space? 61 6.1.4 Networks of Affection 62 6.1.5 Self-restrictions and self-censorship 63 6.2 The Views of the External Informants 63 6.3 Controls by the State 64 6.3.1 Academic Staff Strike 2016 65 6.3.2 Stella Nyanzi – Academic Activism 66 6.3.3 Electoral research - Controlling Consent 67 Table 5: Methods used by the political elite to control the academics and research at CHUSS and SoL at Makerere University 6.4 Summary and concluding remarks 68 Chapter 7: The Academic Profession and democracy - Empirical Findings – 69 Part Three 7 Introduction 69 7.1 The View of the Academics 69 7.1.1 Understanding of Democracy 69 7.1.2 How the Academic Profession Contributed 71 Shape Students to Become Future Democratic Leaders and Bureaucrats 71 Train government officials 72 Public Engagement and Activism 73 7.1.3 Potential problems 74 II How to Influence when met with Challenges 75 7.2 The Views of the External Informants 76 Table 6: Public Engagement at the CHUSS and the SoL (2013-2017) 77 7.3 Amicus Curiae (Friend of Court) 78 7.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 79 Chapter 8: The Relationship and Interplay Between Knowledge and Politics 80 in Uganda - Analysis - Part One 8. Introduction 80 8.1 The Science-Politics Nexus 80 Table 7: The science-politics nexus in Uganda 83 8.2 Politics Dimension 84 8.3 Trust in Scientific Knowledge 89 8.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 92 Chapter 9: Academic Freedom and Constraints - Analysis – Part Two 93 9. Introduction 93 9.1 The Role the State 93 9.1.1 Financial Constraints 94 9.1.2 Formal Constraints 96 9.1.3 Informal Constraints 97 9.2 Self-censorship and Uncertainty 99 9.3 Collegial Defense of Academic Freedom 101 9.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 102 Chapter 10: The Academic Profession and Democracy - Analysis – Part Three 103 10. Introduction 103 10.1 Ways in which the Academic Profession Contributes to Democratization 103 10.1.1 The Role of Experts 104 10.1.2 Research 105 10.1.3 Public Engagement and Social Activism 106 10.1.4 Promote Democracy by Providing Training and by Shaping their Students 109 10.1.5 Addressing the Issue of Political Corruption 110 10.2 Internal Democracy and Internal Corruption 111 10.3 Individual Commitment 113 10.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 114 Chapter 11: Summary and Concluding Remarks 115 11. Introduction 115 11.1 The Relationship between Knowledge and Politics 115 11.2 Academic Freedom 116 11.3 How Academics Contribute to Democratization 117 11.4 Concluding Remarks 118 Literature 121 Appendix 134 Table 8: Overview of the interviews conducted 134 Table 9: List of secondary documents – base for analysis 134 Interview Guide 136 Code Book 1: Academics 139 Code Book 2: External Informants 141 Table 3: Structure of the College of Humanities and Social Science at Makerere 143 Table 4: Structure of the School of Law at Makerere 143 III List of Tables Table 1: Differing Orientations in Politics and Science 16 Table 2: Interlinks and Dependencies Between Science and Politics in Democratic Societies 17 Table 3: Structure of College of Humanities and Social Science at Makerere 143 Table 4: Structure of the School of Law at Makerere 143 Table 5: Methods used by the Political Elite to Control the Academics and Research at 67 CHUSS and SoL at Makerere University Table 6: Public Engagement at CHUSS and SoL (2013-2017) 77 Table 7: The Science-Politics in Uganda 83 Table 8: Overview of the interviews conducted 134 Table 9: List of secondary documents – base for analysis 134 IV Acronyms CEDAT College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology CHUSS College of Humanities and Social Sciences CSO Civil society organization FS Feedback Seminar HURIPEC Human Rights and Peace Centre Mak Makerere University MISR Makerere Institute of Social Reserach MP Member of Parliament MUASA Makerere University Academic Staff Association NORHED Norwegian Program for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development NRM National Resistance Movement PILAC Public Interest Law Clinic SoL School of Law STEM Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics UEA University of East Africa WB World Bank V Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Ass Prof. Tor Halvorsen, for his advice and insight on the knowledge-politics interplay in Uganda, for his constant guidance and support in the course of this work, and most importantly for challenging my though process along the way. My acknowledgements goes to Prof. Steinar Askvik for constructive comments and sound advice on the earlier versions of this work. Thanks are also owed to PhD candidate Reidar Øygard for extensive comments on the work through all writing stages, and for proofreading the thesis, I know it took a lot of work and I am sincerely grateful. I would like to thank all those who have participated in this study and offered their valuable time. I am particularly grateful to all the academic staff of Makerere University who gave insights into their everyday life at the university, and their thoughtful answers to the research questions. Thanks are owed to all the academics that participated at the Feedback Seminar, who provided well needed comments on the preliminary paper presented. I am indebted to the administrative staff at Makerere who provided guidance and support for organizing interviews and finding relevant secondary documents. Further, thanks are owed to the external informants who participated and offered their comments and honest reflection on the issues in question. I would also express my gratitude to NORAD for funding the field work at Makerere University. Most of all, I thank my daughter Zion for being a constant inspiration. I dedicate this thesis to you. VI Abstract The research design for the following study is an exploratory, qualitative case study. It is a case of the Academic Profession at Makerere University in Uganda and explores and aims at understanding the relationship between the academic profession and the political system. It aims at understanding how the state imposes formal and informal restrictions on the profession within the College of Humanities and the Social Sciences and the School of Law, while at the same time exploring how the academic profession react to and handle this. It also assesses if and how the academic profession contributes to democratization of the Ugandan society and if they are an important social force in society.