There are two Adamia themes within the historical tradition of the peoples of Busoga: a Kintu theme associated with the movements of peoples from the east and a Mukama theme associated with the Lwo migrations into eastern Uganda. The two themes, as related in the popular tradition, reflect the emerging ethos of peoples in northern and southern Busoga more than they reflect the historical context of the events involved. un the other hand, the record of clan and family tradition of participant groups brings into focus the historical context of the events associated with Kintu and Mukama. These events belong to an early period of Busoga history--later in the North than in the South--a period in which the foundations of Busoga society are laid and the traditions of the peoples given their initial direction.

Throughout the pre-colonial era, the Lango people of Uganda lacked any state organisation or formal chiefdoms. The scope of the thesis is determined by this salient feature. The development of political authority among the Langi is traced from the formation of the Lango people around 1800 until the eve of the Second World War. The pre-eminent social category in 19th century Lango was the clan, which was small and highly localised. Above this level, regional leadership provided the basis for inter-clan harmony at home and successful warfare abroad. But at the beginning of the 1890's, major defeats in the inter-lacustrine region, together with the disastrous social consequences of the great rinderpest epidemic, destroyed the authority of the regional leaders. Thereafter, local combinations of clans under a dominant clan leader could provide security and redress for wrongs in the immediate vicinity, but otherwise there were no restraints on inter-clan warfare. When the British arrived at the turn of the century, the scope of political authority in Lango was therefore more restricted than ever. Nevertheless, clan leaders were able to delay the assertion of full colonial control, and then to manipulate the new administrative structure for the benefit of traditional interests. The ordinary population lost the participation in political decisions which they had had in pre-colonial times, and they found scant redress against abuse of power. But up to 1939 native administration was controlled for the most part by men who enjoyed some traditional status.

This thesis generates an account of life in a marketplace in Kampala, Uganda, through an ethnographic engagement with its vendors, traders, hawkers, transporters and service providers. It traces the development of Nakasero market from a colonial facility to a dense assemblage of products, peoples and practices from across Uganda and the broader region. Faced with the challenge of getting along amid ongoing processes of social, economic and political change, I argue that people in the market invest considerable time and energy in relationships and associations, drawing together ideas and practices from institutions with long histories in Kampala and Buganda. Nakasero market has been witness to many of the political and economic disturbances of postcolonial Uganda: from the Asian expulsion and the magendo (black market) of the 1970s, to the structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) and privatisation initiatives of the 1990s. However, rather than being passive recipients of these events, people in the market have engaged in collective subjective practices to reinterpret and remake them, producing alternative visions of social and moral prosperity. The findings of the thesis inform two separate literatures. First, they challenge studies of change in urban African settings conducted under the metanarratives of ‘crisis’ and ‘informality’, which tend to conceal the multiplicity of forms through which life in the city is articulated and expressed. Second, they suggest the need for post-structural accounts of African cities to consider the enduring role of cultural idioms, such as that of ‘heart’ (omutima), in shaping the actions and perspectives of urban African inhabitants.

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This thesis is about the experiences of children born as a result of sexual violence in war and armed conflict. It explores how children conceived in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) are perceived and how those perceptions affect their everyday lives once they left the LRA and joined the families and communities of their mothers in post-war northern Uganda, and particularly in Lango. These children are offspring of forced wives - girls and young women who were forced into sexual relationships with LRA militiamen. Kony used fear and mysticism to manipulate his followers and control their sex life and hence, re-organise their reproductive choices. Yet Kony’s approach to sexuality and procreation was perceived as incompatible with Lango norms and institutions regulating sex, marriage and motherhood. This gave rise to tensions over the reintegration of formerly abducted women and their children. This study explores the circumstances under which these children were conceived and what happened to them when they left the LRA and joined their mothers’ natal families and communities. Moreover, it explores related fields – such as ideas and practices of kinship and gender - influencing the treatment of children conceived in the LRA.