Review: The Social Origins of Violence in Uganda 1964–1985
| Author | Susan Dicklitch |
| Published date | 01 March 1996 |
| Date | 01 March 1996 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070209605100111 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
REVIEWS/AFRICA
159
stitutes
collapse,
and
how
one
might capture
the
process.
While
acknowledging
that
an
absolute
threshold
is
difficult
to
establish,
they
nonetheless
suggest
a
number
of
'signposts
of
collapse,'
including
intense
power
struggle
at
the
centre
which
leads
to
power
devolution
by
default
to
the
periphery
and
the
centre's
loss
of
control
over
its
agents,
who
then
act
on
their
own
account.
Such
situations
are
difficult
to
reverse,
though
the
disease
of
collapse
is
not
necessarily
fatal.
Eleven
case
studies
attempt
to
apply
the original
analysis.
They
include
three
groups
drawn
from
two waves
of
collapse
at
the
end
of
the
1970S
(notably
Chad
and
Uganda),
the
end
of
the
198os
(notably
Somalia
and
Liberia),
and
from
'states
in
danger'
in
the
199os
(notably
Zaire
and
Algeria).
Comparatively,
the
cases
address
the
issues
of
col-
lapse
and
restoration
as
they
assess
the strengths
and
weaknesses
of
a
variety
of
responses.
The 'potential
agents
of
reconstruction' include
the
United
Nations
and
other
international
actors,
a
difficult
and
slow
democratization
process,
but
also
a
'strongman'
(organized
force)
option
as
an
'essential
ingredient
of
putting
together
a
collapsed
state.'
Among
the
useful
suggestions advanced
by
the authors
is
the need
for
serious
indigenous leadership
to
orchestrate
elements
of
reconsti-
tuted
power,
participation
as
a
means
of
restoring
legitimacy,
and
resource
availability
to
pump-prime the
state.
It
is
the latter
element
particularly
that
points
to
a
crucial
role
for
external
involvement
in
the
task
of
restoring
legitimate
authority.
But
it
is
not
at
all
clear
that
the
interest
and
will
of
the
international
community
can
be
counted
on
in
the
current
global
context.
D.
Elwood
Dunn/University
of
the
South
THE
SOCIAL
ORIGINS
OF
VIOLENCE
IN
UGANDA
1964-1985
A.B.K.
Kasozi
Montreal
& Kingston:
McGill-Queens
University Press,
1994,
xxv,
347PP,
$55.00
The
Uganda
of
1995
is
shockingly
different
from
the Uganda
of
1964-
85.
From
being
heralded
as
the
'pearl
of
Africa'
in
colonial times to
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