Abstract

For the last three decades, Uganda has been one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Globally praised as an African success story and heavily backed by international financial institutions, development agencies and bilateral donors, the country has become an exemplar of economic and political reform for those who espouse a neoliberal model of development. The neoliberal policies and the resulting restructuring of the country have been accompanied by narratives of progress, prosperity, and modernisation and justified in the name of development.

But this self-celebratory narrative, which is critiqued by many in Uganda, masks the disruptive social impact of these reforms and silences the complex and persistent crises resulting from neoliberal transformation. Bringing together a range of leading scholars on the country, this collection represents a timely contribution to the debate around the New Uganda, one which confronts the often sanitised and largely depoliticised accounts of the Museveni government and its proponents.

Harnessing a wealth of empirical materials, the contributors offer a critical, multi-disciplinary analysis of the unprecedented political, socio-economic, cultural and ecological transformations brought about by neoliberal capitalist restructuring since the 1980s. The result is the most comprehensive collective study to date of a neoliberal market society in contemporary Africa, offering crucial insights for other countries in the Global South.

‘A long-overdue and timely study of neoliberalism in Uganda and the resulting political, economic and social order under Museveni. Theories and statistics rub against lived reality to reveal a country at a crossroads.’
Daniel Kalinaki, Nation Media Group

‘This scholarly and well researched book is a must read for all Ugandans and Africans. It exposes the fraud behind the neoliberal ideology that has confused policy making in Uganda.’
Yash Tandon, author of Trade is War: The West's War against the World

‘Convincingly demonstrates that Uganda’s three decades flirtation with neoliberalism has had far-reaching consequences – from the environment, to religion and even the performing arts. A provocative account of a phenomenon that has had a much wider impact than previously assumed.’
J. Oloka-Onyango, Makerere University

‘The most comprehensive and nuanced critique, so far, of how the neoliberal posture has impacted Uganda over the past three decades. An invaluable and urgently needed addition to the literature on the political economy of Uganda.’
Moses Khisa, North Carolina State University

‘Bringing together an exceptionally strong group of contributors, this volume provides a fresh perspective on the political economy of development in a critically important African country. Indispensable.’
Alfredo Saad-Filho, SOAS University of London

‘The essays in this book pierce the veil of the “neo-liberal success story” that is contemporary Uganda under Museveni. Activist scholars are encouraged to read these essays closely.’
Issa Shivji, Director, Nyerere Resource Centre, Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology

Jörg Wiegratz is Lecturer in Political Economy of Global Development at the School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds.

Giuliano Martiniello is Assistant Professor of Rural Community Development in the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut.

Elisa Greco is a Post-Doc Researcher at the Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds.