At the Intersection of Instrumentalism, Understanding, and Critique : Reflections on Development Research on Citizenship in Uganda

Abstract

This special issue showcases four analyses of lived citizenship in Uganda – a country previously known as a donor darling but, recently, better known for its steady slide towards authoritarian rule (Ssentongo 2021, Tapscott 2021, Wilkins et. al. 2021, Wiegratz et. al. 2018). Individually, the articles draw on and contribute to diverse strands of debate within the field of citizenship studies. As a collection, however, they serve to illustrate a space characterized by three different knowledge interests in development-related research on African societies. A central contention is that the very notion of ‘development-related research’ requires definition; as a field, it is constituted and its boundaries are defined by different actors’ considerations of what is relevant for either the policy, practice, critique, or the very definition of ‘development’. When conducted on societies in Africa, it intersects with African studies and anthropological contributions.