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‘We are passing our leisure time’: moving on from education in eastern Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2020

Ben Jones
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Abstract

In the trading centre of Atine Atirir in eastern Uganda, young men gather to play ludo. They are educated but most do not have salaried employment. Many farm and do some form of casual labour. They talk about the importance of leisure and ‘leisure time’ and discuss the prospects of Arsenal in the English Premier League. In this article I explore the relationship between education, farming and ‘leisure time’ and look at the ways in which young men in particular make sense of lives that involve both schooling and farming. A number of scholars have focused on the tensions and frustrations of educated – typically urban – youth in Africa and elsewhere. They observe a growing distance between older and younger people, and the ways young men define their situation as one of boredom, dissatisfaction and waiting. By contrast, I show the ways in which the ludo board helped younger men in a poorer, rural setting elide an interest in an ‘educated style’ with rural forms of work – farming, petty trading and casual employment – and how the space around the game was mostly a site of play and relaxation, a place for passing, rather than killing, time. There was also a large degree of sympathy between the generations.

Résumé

Résumé

Dans le centre de commerce d'Atine Atirir, dans l'Est de l'Ouganda, des jeunes hommes se rassemblent pour jouer au ludo. Ils sont éduqués, mais la plupart n'ont pas d'emploi salarié. Beaucoup sont fermiers et effectuent un travail occasionnel. Ils parlent de l'importance des loisirs et du « temps de loisirs », et discutent des chances d'Arsenal dans le championnat anglais. Dans cet article, l'auteur explore la relation entre éducation, agriculture et « temps de loisirs », et examine la manière dont les jeunes en particulier donnent du sens aux vies qui allient scolarité et agriculture. Certains chercheurs se sont intéressés aux tensions et aux frustrations des jeunes éduqués (généralement urbains) en Afrique et ailleurs. Ils observent une distance croissante entre les personnes âgées et les jeunes, et la manière dont les jeunes définissent leur situation en parlant d'ennui, d'insatisfaction et d'attente. L'article montre en revanche comment le tablier de ludo aidait des jeunes en milieu urbain à allier un intérêt pour un « style éduqué » à des formes de travail rurales (agriculture, petit commerce et travail occasionnel), et comment l'espace autour du jeu était principalement une aire de loisir et de détente, un lieu pour passer le temps, plutôt que pour le tuer. On y observait également une grande sympathie entre les générations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 90 , Issue 2 , February 2020 , pp. 252 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2020

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