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Generations and Access to Land in Postconflict Northern Uganda: “Youth Have No Voice in Land Matters”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2017

Susan Reynolds Whyte  and
Esther Acio
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Abstract:

Generational tensions are one of the many forms that land conflicts take in northern Uganda. The convention in Acholiland was that young men gained land-use rights through their fathers and young women gained them through their husbands. This pattern of generational governance has become complicated in the wake of the civil war and decades of internment in IDP camps. Lacking husbands, young women are using land of their patrilateral kin, while young men who grew up with their mothers may use that of their matrilateral relatives. This article, based on fieldwork in the Acholi subregion between 2014 and 2016, explores classic anthropological concerns about gerontocracy and patriliny in a contemporary postconflict situation. It describes the discreet land access strategies of young men and women and the ways in which they seek to complement dependence on relatives by renting or buying land. The image of the “war generation” as morally spoiled is countered by an examination of the consequences of war and internment for young people’s claims to use land.

Résumé:

Les tensions générationnelles sont l’une des nombreuses formes que les conflits fonciers prennent dans le nord de l’Ouganda. La convention en Acholiland était que les jeunes hommes acquéraient des droits d’utilisation des terres par l’intermédiaire de leurs pères et les jeunes femmes à travers leurs maris. Ce modèle de gouvernance générationnelle a été compliqué à la suite de la guerre civile et des décennies d’internement dans des camps de personnes déplacées. À défaut de maris, les jeunes femmes utilisent la terre de leurs parents patrilatéraux, tandis que les jeunes hommes qui ont grandi avec leur mère peuvent utiliser celle de leurs parents matrilatéraux. Cet article, basé sur des travaux sur le terrain dans la sous-région d’Acholi entre 2014 et 2016, explore les préoccupations anthropologiques classiques avec la gérontocratie et la patrilinité dans une situation après ces conflits contemporains. Il décrit les stratégies d’accès à la terre des jeunes hommes et des femmes et les moyens par lesquels ils cherchent à compléter leur dépendance à l’égard des parents en louant ou en achetant des terres. L’image de la “génération de guerre” tel que gâtée moralement est contrariée par un examen des conséquences de la guerre et de l’internement sur les prétentions des jeunes à l’utilisation des terres.

Keywords

Land accessyouthgenerationsmarriagebridewealthAcholilandpostwar land conflicts
Type
ASR FORUM: Land Disputes and Displacement in Postconflict Africa
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 60 , Issue 3 , December 2017 , pp. 17 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2017 

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