The Politics of Ecumenism in Uganda, 1962-1986
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3401433 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J J Carney (0000-0002-5233-5713, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 86 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 765-795 |
| Publication date | 2017-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Church History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-6407 • E-ISSN: 1755-2613 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0009640717001287 |
| OpenAlex | W2766541673 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 32 |
In standard postcolonial political polemics in Uganda, colonial Anglican and Catholic churches have been castigated for fomenting and exacerbating Uganda's political divisions. These polemics overlook the growing ecumenical ties between Catholic and Anglican leaders that began in the 1950s and continued well into the 1980s. In particular, the shared experience of political oppression forged solidarity between erstwhile Catholic and Anglican rivals, especially during the Idi Amin dictatorship of 1971-1979 and the brutal civil war of 1979-1986. Drawing on an array of archival, oral, and secondary sources, this article offers a synthesis of Ugandan Christian leaders' political engagement during the quarter-century following independence in 1962. I argue that church leaders in the 1960s embraced a politically quiescent, "social development" approach best embodied in the ecumenical Uganda Joint Christian Council. In the early 1970s, Anglican and Catholic leaders slowly withdrew from active collaboration with Amin's regime, embracing an approach I term "prudent recalcitrance," entailing shifting stances of official silence, private lobbying, and carefully crafted written critiques. Finally, during the political unrest and civil war of the early 1980s, church leaders adopted a posture of "prophetic presence," standing for and with the people in opposition to Milton Obote's increasingly violent state
Aesthetics · Civil society · Declaration of independence · Democracy · Dictatorship · Ecumenism · Opposition (politics) · Oppression · Political economy · Political opportunity · Political science · Politics · Silence · Social movement · Sociology · Solidarity · Spanish Civil War · Unrest · African history and culture analysis · Christian Theology and Mission · Gender Studies · Law · Religion, Society, and Development
The Church in Africa, 1450-1950
Political Development in Uganda
A History of African Christianity 1950–1975
African Christianity
Christianity and the African Imagination
Social Origins of Violence in Uganda, 1964-1985
Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival
Changing Relations between Churches in Europe and Africa
Buganda in Modern History
Uganda now
The Emergence of Politico-Religious Groupings in Late Nineteenth-Century Buganda
The Political Crisis of Church Institutions in Uganda
Catholic Action and Ugandan Radicalism
The Church of Uganda and the Exile of Kabaka Muteesa II, 1953-55
The Church of Uganda and the Exile of Kabaka Muteesa Ii, 1953-551
So Abundant a Harvest
Social Disorganisation in Uganda
The Social Origins of Violence in Uganda
Christian Missionaries and the State in the Third World
Religion in Uganda under Amin
Christianity in Independent Africa
Religion and Politics in East Africa
A Political History of Uganda
Buganda in Modern History
Uganda Now
Religion and Politics in East Africa
The Contribution of the Christian Churches to the Development of Western Uganda 1894-1974
Christian Missionaries and the State in the Third World
The Political Development of Uganda
Rethinking the state in Idi Amin's Uganda
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |