Civil society in Uganda

The struggle to save the Mabira Forest Reserve

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2182173
AutoresKeith Child (Mount Allison University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2009
Volumen3
Número2
Páginas240-258
Fecha de publicación2009-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Eastern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1753-1055 • E-ISSN: 1753-1063
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17531050902972659
OpenAlexW1980426893
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas18
Referencias citadas32

Over the past twenty years Uganda's civil society has been virtually invisible, yet in 2007 government proposals to degazette the Mabira Forest Reserve provoked an unprecedented public reaction. Mabira was transformed from being a symbol of Uganda's natural beauty, into a symbol of civil society efficacy. Mabira is now indicative of other social struggles that suggest Ugandans are increasingly willing to demand accountability from their government. This paper deploys discourse analysis to examine the development, trajectory and dénouement of the fight to save the Mabira Forest Reserve, using the concept of civil society as a "field of struggle". This alternative conception of civil society is uniquely suited to capturing the heterogeneity of diverse associations in non-Western settings, particularly those that gravitate toward a broadly inclusive issue such as the "environment

Accountability · Civil society · Democracy · Economic growth · Economics · Government (linguistics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Symbol (formal · Cambodian History and Society · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Law · Public Administration