Why do different cultures form and persist? Learning from the case of Makerere University
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4251872 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joan Ricart-Huguet (0000-0003-4553-9563, Loyola University Maryland, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 429-456 |
| Publication date | 2022-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Modern African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-278X • E-ISSN: 1469-7777 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0022278x22000350 |
| OpenAlex | W4323788727 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
Culture is a central concept in the social sciences. It is also difficult to examine rigorously. I study the oldest university in East Africa and a cradle of political elites, Makerere University, where halls of residence developed distinct cultures in the 1970s such that some hall cultures are activist (e.g. Lumumba Hall) while others are respectful to authorities (e.g. Livingstone Hall) even though assignment to halls has been random since 1970. I leverage this unique setting to understand how culture forms and affects the values and behaviours of young adults. Participant observation, interviews and archives suggest that cultural differences arose from critical junctures that biased group (hall) composition and from intergroup (inter-hall) competition. Hall governments promote cultural and institutional persistence through the intergenerational transmission of norms and practices, thereby highlighting the role of political hierarchy in reproducing culture
Competition (biology) · Leverage (statistics) · Political science · Politics · Residence · Social science · Sociology · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Demography · Gender Studies · Law
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |