Battles over boundaries: the politics of territory, identity and authority in three Ugandan regions

Abstract

In Uganda, contested relations between the central government and sub-national regions have, since independence, shaped state formation and national identity in fundamental ways. Today, the country is characterised by regionally uneven state presence, and distinct sub-national identities and ongoing contestation over territorial demarcations, loci of authority and political identities. This article explores the politics of territory, identity and authority in three Ugandan regions in this context, in order to analyse the implications for exclusion and conflict at the sub-national level. This involves struggles over the territorial and administrative demarcations of and within regions; the loci and scope of authority with regards to these units; struggles over access to land; and the (non-)recognition of various cultural–political identities in these regions.

Keywords:

• Uganda
• sub-national politics
• territory
• identity
• authority

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Henrik Angerbrandt, Ron Atkinson, Jimmy Otim, Johanna Söderström, Franzisca Zanker and two reviewers for comments on earlier versions of this text. The usual disclaimers apply.

Note on contributor

Anders Sjögren is a Senior Research with the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Stockholm University. Working in the field of comparative political economy of development, his current research is on land conflicts, state formation and citizenship in Kenya and Uganda. Among his recent publications are Between Militarism and Technocratic Governance: State Formation in Contemporary Uganda. 2013. Fountain Publishers. Kenya. The Struggle for a New Constitutional Order. 2014. Zed books.

ORCID

Anders Sjögren http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1520-4191

Notes

1. The main part of this section is a translation of Sjögren (2011, 99–101).