Adolescence versus Politics

Metaphors in Late Colonial Uganda

Bibliographic Data

ID5306391
AuthorsCarol Summers (corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume78
Issue1
Pages117-136
Publication date2017-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the History of Ideas (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-5037 • E-ISSN: 1086-3222
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jhi.2017.0005
OpenAlexW2587716018
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

In late colonial Uganda, British social scientists, development experts, religious leaders, and administrators used the metaphor of adolescence to explain political unrest. If Uganda could be seen as an adolescent, upheaval in the model colony was a sign of successful growth, not a rejection of British administration or global ideas of development and progress. Using the metaphor of adolescence, experts emphasized the period’s turmoil as signs of biosocial, adolescent maturation, rather than symptoms of political competition, clashing class interests, or ethnic patriotisms. Through this powerful metaphor, British observers rejected any politics based in different values, interests, or goals

Aesthetics · Biosocial theory · Colonialism · Competition (biology) · Ethnic group · Metaphor · Period (music) · Personality · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sign (mathematics) · Social unrest · Sociology · Unrest · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Gender Studies · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub