Thursday, March 8, 2012

Kony 2012 from Kampala

I am reposting this work by Adam Branch for those interested in the Kony 2012 campaign.
-Sam

 
Kony 2012 from Kampala

Adam Branch
Senior Research Fellow
Makerere Institute of Social Research

March 8, 2012
Kampala, Uganda

From Kampala, the Kony 2012 hysteria is easy to miss. I’m not on Facebook or Twitter, and I don’t watch YouTube—but over the last twenty-four hours, I have received dozens of emails from friends, colleagues, and students in the US about the video by Invisible Children and the massive on-line response to it.

I have not watched the video. As someone who has worked in and done research on the war in northern Uganda for over a decade, much of it with a local human rights organization based in Gulu, the Invisible Children organization and their videos have infuriated me to no end—I remember one sleepless night after I watched their “Rough Cut” film for the first time with a group of students, after which I tried to explain to the audience what was wrong with the film while on stage with one of the filmmakers.

My frustration with the group has largely reflected the concerns expressed so eloquently by those individuals who have been willing to bring the fury of Invisible Children’s true believers down upon themselves in order to point out what is wrong with what this group of young Americans is doing: the warmongering, the self-indulgence, the commercialization, the reductive and one-sided story they tell, their portrayal of Africans as helpless children in need of rescue by white Americans, and the fact that civilians in Uganda and central Africa may have to pay a steep price in their own lives so that a lot of young Americans can feel good about themselves, and a few can make good money. This, of course, is sickening, and I think that Kony 2012 is a case of Invisible Children having finally gone too far. They are now facing a backlash from people of conscience who refuse to abandon their capacity to think for themselves.

But, as I said, I wouldn’t have known about Kony 2012 if it hadn’t been for the emails I’ve been receiving from the US. I have heard nothing about Kony 2012 here in Kampala because, in a sense, it just does not matter. So, as a response to the on-line debate that has been going on for the last couple days, I want to explain why, from here, Kony 2012 can be ignored.

First, because Invisible Children is a symptom, not a cause. It is an excuse that the US government has gladly adopted in order to help justify the expansion of their military presence in central Africa. Invisible Children are “useful idiots,” being used by those in the US government who seek to militarize Africa, to send more and more weapons and military aid, and to build the power of military rulers who are US allies. The hunt for Joseph Kony is the perfect excuse for this strategy—how often does the US government find millions of young Americans pleading that they intervene militarily in a place rich in oil and other resources? The US government would be pursuing this militarization with or without Invisible Children—Kony 2012 just makes it a bit easier. Therefore, it is the militarization we need to worry about, not Invisible Children.

Second, because in northern Uganda, people’s lives will be left untouched by this campaign, even if it were to achieve its stated objectives. This is not because things have entirely improved in the years since open fighting ended, but because the very serious problems people face today have little to do with Kony. The most significant problem people face is over land. Land speculators and so-called investors, many foreign, in collaboration with the Ugandan government and military, are trying to grab the land of the Acholi people, land that they were forced off of a decade ago when they were herded into camps. Another prominent problem is nodding disease—a deadly illness that has broken out among thousands of children who grew up in the government’s internment camps, subsisting on relief aid. Indeed, the problems people face today are the legacy of the camps, where over a million Acholi were forced to live, and die, for years by their own government. Today’s problems are the legacy of the government’s counterinsurgency, which received full support from the US government and international aid agencies.

Which brings up the question that I am constantly asked in the US: “what can we do?”, where “we” tends to mean American citizens. In response, I have a few proposals. The first, perhaps not surprising from a professor, is to learn. The conflict in northern Uganda and central Africa is complicated, yes—but not impossible to understand. For several years, I have taught an undergraduate class on the conflict, and although it takes some time and effort, the students end up being well informed and able to come to their own opinions about what can be done. I am more than happy to share the syllabus with anyone interested! In terms of activism, I think the first thing we need to do is to re-think the question: instead of asking how the US can intervene in order to solve Africa’s conflicts, we need to ask what we are already doing to cause those conflicts in the first place. How are we, as consumers, contributing to land grabbing and to the wars ravaging this region? How are we, as American citizens, allowing our government to militarize Africa in the name of the War on Terror and securing oil resources? That is what we have to ask ourselves, because we are indeed responsible for the conflict in northern Uganda—however, we are not responsible to end it by sending military force, as Invisible Children tells us, but responsible for helping to cause and prolong it. In our desire to ameliorate suffering, we must not be complicit in making it worse.

Posted on website for the Makerere Institute of Social Research: http://misr.mak.ac.ug/

5 comments:

  1. Adam, thanks for this. Also, can you share the syllabus for your class? I have a lot of FB friends asking how they can learn more, and other than Allen and Vlassenroet's book, I'm not really sure where to send them.

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  2. Hi Miss Marmelstein, I've just posted Adam's brief here on my blog. I'm actually a doctoral student at UC-Berkeley who also works in Northern Uganda. I think the best overview of the conflict (including what's happening with ordinary people on the ground), is anthropologist Sverker Finnstrom's 'Living with Bad Surroundings'. Adam has a new book out too that deals more with humanitarianism: 'Displacing Human Rights: War and Intervention in Northern Uganda'. You might email Adam (his email is at the top of the post) to see if he would be willing to share his syllabus. Many thanks for your interest and concern! Best, Sam

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  3. How are we, as consumers, contributing to land grabbing and to the wars raving this region? Good question. Can someone tell the answer? What am I buying that is causing this? I need some for information before I buy your blog. My congregation has helped Ugandans create a school, orphanage for children orphaned by many reasons, a clinic with a sustained staff, generator, a number of wells (absolutely necessary) and micro loans for businesses for women over the last 7-8 years in Tururo, Uganda. Hands on work throughout the year,dentistry and farming for sustainability, etc. Check out Hope4kids international. That's a small but significant support for the area and continent; a huge impact on the people. it may not affect the people in No. Uganda but it's making a difference in Tururo. Now what again can consumers in the US do to affect change in No. Uganda??? I'll wait for your answer. Education is everything.

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  4. Hi sobaycitizen, thanks for your questions! Please note that this blog entry (unlike the other posts, which I've written) was composed by Adam Branch; I would shoot him an email (his email is listed above the psot) with your question. I'm sure he'd be happy to discuss.
    Thank you for engaging and learning more.
    All the best,
    Sam

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