description |
Based on eleven months of field work (2009-2011), this book analyzes the situation of youth in urban Gulu, Northern Uganda, in the aftermath of the war between the Lord’s Resistance 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? 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 different groups of social actors – youth and elders, men 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, others lobby for ‘modernization’ and attempt to establish ‘new’ social structures, values and norms which are strongly influenced by local understandings of ‘the Western culture’. The book 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.
|
spelling |
oapen-20.500.12657-318542022-04-26T12:20:22Z Youth at the crossroads - Discourses on socio-cultural change in post-war Northern Uganda Vorhölter, Julia, Youth Urban Gulu Uganda 20-year war Acholi society Family Peer-to-peer relations Culture Northern Region Uganda bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JF Society & culture: general::JFS Social groups::JFSL Ethnic studies Based on eleven months of field work (2009-2011), this book analyzes the situation of youth in urban Gulu, Northern Uganda, in the aftermath of the war between the Lord’s Resistance 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? 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 different groups of social actors – youth and elders, men 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, others lobby for ‘modernization’ and attempt to establish ‘new’ social structures, values and norms which are strongly influenced by local understandings of ‘the Western culture’. The book 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. Based on eleven months of field work (2009-2011), this book analyzes the situation of youth in urban Gulu, Northern Uganda, in the aftermath of the war between the Lord’s Resistance 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? 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 different groups of social actors – youth and elders, men 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, others lobby for ‘modernization’ and attempt to establish ‘new’ social structures, values and norms which are strongly influenced by local understandings of ‘the Western culture’. The book 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. 2017-02-24 23:55 2019-11-28 12:05:35 2020-04-01T13:51:30Z 2020-04-01T13:51:30Z 2014 book 624630 OCN: 927138675 9783863951696 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31854 eng application/pdf n/a 624630.pdf https://doi.org/10.17875/gup2014-752 Universitätsverlag Göttingen 10.17875/gup2014-752 Based on eleven months of field work (2009-2011), this book analyzes the situation of youth in urban Gulu, Northern Uganda, in the aftermath of the war between the Lord’s Resistance 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? 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 different groups of social actors – youth and elders, men 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, others lobby for ‘modernization’ and attempt to establish ‘new’ social structures, values and norms which are strongly influenced by local understandings of ‘the Western culture’. The book 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. 10.17875/gup2014-752 ffaff15c-73ed-45cd-8be1-56a881b51f62 9783863951696 open access
|