TY - JOUR

T1 - Generations and access to land in post conflict northern Uganda

T2 - "Youth have no voice in land matters"

AU - Whyte, Susan Reynolds

AU - Acio, Esther

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Generational tensions are one of the many forms that land conflicts take in northern Uganda. The convention in Acholiland was that young men gained land-use rights through their fathers and young women gained them through their husbands. This pattern of generational governance has become complicated in the wake of the civil war and decades of internment in IDP camps. Lacking husbands, young women are using land of their patrilateral kin, while young men who grew up with their mothers may use that of their matrilateral relatives. This article, based on fieldwork in the Acholi subregion between 2014 and 2016, explores classic anthropological concerns about gerontocracy and patriliny in a contemporary postconflict situation. It describes the discreet land access strategies of young men and women and the ways in which they seek to complement dependence on relatives by renting or buying land. The image of the “war generation” as morally spoiled is countered by an examination of the consequences of war and internment for young people’s claims to use land.

AB - Generational tensions are one of the many forms that land conflicts take in northern Uganda. The convention in Acholiland was that young men gained land-use rights through their fathers and young women gained them through their husbands. This pattern of generational governance has become complicated in the wake of the civil war and decades of internment in IDP camps. Lacking husbands, young women are using land of their patrilateral kin, while young men who grew up with their mothers may use that of their matrilateral relatives. This article, based on fieldwork in the Acholi subregion between 2014 and 2016, explores classic anthropological concerns about gerontocracy and patriliny in a contemporary postconflict situation. It describes the discreet land access strategies of young men and women and the ways in which they seek to complement dependence on relatives by renting or buying land. The image of the “war generation” as morally spoiled is countered by an examination of the consequences of war and internment for young people’s claims to use land.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Land access

KW - Youth

KW - Generations

KW - Marriage

KW - Bridewealth

KW - Acholiland

KW - Postwar land conflicts

U2 - 10.1017/asr.2017.120

DO - 10.1017/asr.2017.120

M3 - Journal article

VL - 60

SP - 17

EP - 36

JO - African Studies Review

JF - African Studies Review

SN - 0002-0206

IS - 3

ER -