Beyond the State in Rural Uganda

In this innovative study, Ben Jones argues that scholars too often assume that the state is the most important force behind change in local political communities in Africa. Studies look to the state, and to the impact of government reforms, as ways of understanding processes of development and change. Using the example of Uganda, regarded as one of Africa's few "success stories", Jones chronicles the insignificance of the state and the marginal impact of Western development agencies. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork in a Ugandan village reveals that it is churches, the village court, and organizations based on family and kinships obligations that represent the most significant sites of innovation and social transformation. Groundbreaking and critical in turn, Beyond the State offers a new anthropological perspective on how to think about processes of social and political change in poorer parts of the world. It should appeal to anyone interested in African development. Key features: *Offers a new approach to studying development and change *Gives a fresh perspective on Christianity in Africa *Looks at problems of international development assistance *Provides a rich ethnographic rural study from east Africa

ISBN 074863519X   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9780748635191 (What's this?)   Pages 224 Publisher Edinburgh University Press   Published in Edinburgh Imprint Edinburgh University Press   Series title International African Library Format Paperback   Height (mm) 234 Publication date 01 Dec 2008   Width (mm) 156 DEWEY 307.1412096761   Academic level Postgraduate

1. Introduction; Moving the State from the Centre; In Between "Development"; The Rest of the Book; 2. Introducing Oledai; Themes that Cut Across Developments in the Village; Seniority, Prosperity, Propriety; Explaining Change in the Village; 3. Teso Society through the Twentieth Century; From Stateless to Sub-Colonial; Teso through the Post-Colonial Period; The Teso Insurgency; Conclusion; 4. The Village Court and the Withdrawn State; Away from Decentralisation; The History of the State in Teso Villages; The Actual Work of the Village Council in Oledai; Conclusion; 5. The Pentecostal Church; The Nature of Pentecostalism; Pentecostalism in the Teso Region; The Incorporation of Pentecostalism; The Limits to Incorporation; Conclusion; 6. The Anglican and Catholic Churches; The Historic Mission Churches in Teso; The Influence of Pentecostalism; Conclusion; 7. Burial Societies; The Work of Burial Societies; The Genealogy of Burial Societies; Burial Societies and Local Borrowings; The Past in the Present; Conclusion; 8. Conclusion; Churches and the Meaning Of Change; Burials, Ideas and Institutional Change; Uganda in Between; Appendix A: Research Methods; Appendix B: Interviews; Interviews Conducted in the Sub-Parish of Oledai; Interviews: Others; Participants in Group Discussions in Oledai; Participants in Group Discussions in Agolitom (Conducted in Ateso).

A very readable book and one that challenges current development discourses with good ethnography and historical scholarship. It is a book that will be particularly useful for teaching in undergraduate courses and in postgraduate seminars! And it is essential reading for students of Uganda, and indeed for students of Africa. -- Michael Whyte African Studies Review A fascinating and convincing book! Yoweri Museveni, so the story goes, has made the hard decisions that would usher in economic, social, and political development, and for that he is feted in Western capitals and is showered with millions in aid. Instead, Jones examines Oledai sub-parish in the Iteso region of eastern Uganda, where the state and NGOs appear more or less irrelevant to daily life, and the achievements for which Museveni is hailed are nowhere to be seen. -- Brett L. Shadle Journal of African History Offers a new anthropological perspective on how to think about processes of social and political change in poorer parts of the world, appealing to anyone interested in African development. Society Now An attractive option for classroom use. ... Advanced undergraduate students in anthropology, history, and development studies would find much to value in this text. Graduate students and specialists will also appreciate Jones' ability to integrate sophisticated theoretical arguments into a compelling ethnohistorical analysis. -- Alicia Decker International Journal of African Historical Studies I consider the book to be a welcome addition to the recent ethnographic literature on East Africa. -- Jan de Wolf Social Anthropology An accessible, intelligent, and stimulating account, and a very welcome addition to a literature on Uganda which frequently does limit itself, as Jones himself argues, to rather reactionary and conventional accounts of developmental 'transformation'. -- Tania Kaiser Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute A very readable book and one that challenges current development discourses with good ethnography and historical scholarship. It is a book that will be particularly useful for teaching in undergraduate courses and in postgraduate seminars! And it is essential reading for students of Uganda, and indeed for students of Africa. A fascinating and convincing book! Yoweri Museveni, so the story goes, has made the hard decisions that would usher in economic, social, and political development, and for that he is feted in Western capitals and is showered with millions in aid. Instead, Jones examines Oledai sub-parish in the Iteso region of eastern Uganda, where the state and NGOs appear more or less irrelevant to daily life, and the achievements for which Museveni is hailed are nowhere to be seen. Offers a new anthropological perspective on how to think about processes of social and political change in poorer parts of the world, appealing to anyone interested in African development. An attractive option for classroom use. ... Advanced undergraduate students in anthropology, history, and development studies would find much to value in this text. Graduate students and specialists will also appreciate Jones' ability to integrate sophisticated theoretical arguments into a compelling ethnohistorical analysis. I consider the book to be a welcome addition to the recent ethnographic literature on East Africa. An accessible, intelligent, and stimulating account, and a very welcome addition to a literature on Uganda which frequently does limit itself, as Jones himself argues, to rather reactionary and conventional accounts of developmental 'transformation'.

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