Political Science » Research » Anders Sjögren

Anders Sjögren

Ph.D., Researcher

E-mail: anders.sjogren@statsvet.su.se
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The 2011 Uganda elections – some preliminary reflections »

Research interests

State-society relations in Africa; comparative political economy of development.

I defended my doctoral thesis “Between Militarism and Technocratic Governance: State Formation in Contemporary Uganda” in June 2007.

I am a member of the Politics of Development Group (PODSU) in the Department, and have contributed to two of the PODSU’s edited volumes (see publications list).

Throughout the dissertation period, I was an associate with the Centre for Basic Research (CBR) in Kampala, Uganda. In Kenya, I am affiliated to the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi.

Publications

2011 c, "Figli della terra, signori del territorio? Politica della terra, etnicit e cittadinanza nel Bunyoro, Uganda occidentale" [Sons of the soil, masters of territory? The politics of land, ethnicity and citizenship in Bunyoro, Western Uganda] i Afriche e orienti, anno XII, n. 3-4/2011, pp. 90-106.

2011 b, with Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, Going to the Bush: Urban-rural Links and Violent Conflicts in Ugand. African Programme Report. Swedish National Defence College, 2011.

2011 a, "Constitutional Reform in Kenya: Towards a New order?" in Annual Report 2010: The Rise of Africa: Miracle or Mirage?. Nordiska Afrika institutet, 2011.

2008 c with Per Karlsson, "Riktning Demokrati" (Direction Democracy) in Arena, nr 4, 2008.

2008 b with Per Karlsson, "Kenyas väljare bestals på löftet om förändring" (The promise of change was stolen from the Kenyan voters) in Internationella Studies, Nr 2, 2008.

2008 a, with Per Karlsson, "From Dream to Nightmare: the Kenyan 2007 elections".
Also available online »

2007 d, with Per Karlsson, ”Kenya går till val” (The forthcoming Kenyan elections)  in Internationella Studier, nr 4 2007.

2007 c, “Global Power Relations and State Formation in Uganda”. In Lars Lindström, Mats Wärn and Björn Beckman (eds.) Globalization, Imperialism and Resistance. Stockholm: PODSU, 2007.

2007 b, with Björn Beckman, Lars Lindström and Mats Wärn, “Globalization, Imperialism and Resistance: An Introduction”. In Lars Lindström, Mats Wärn and Björn Beckman (eds.) Globalization, Imperialism and Resistance. Stockholm: PODSU, 2007.

2007 a, "Between Militarism and Technocratic Governance: State Formation in Contemporary Uganda". PhD Dissertation, Dept of Political Science, Stockholm University.

2006, with Sverker Finnström, “Sluta dalta med president Museveni!” (Stop pampering President Museveni!), March 7, Brännpunkt, Svenska Dagbladet (opinion piece, Svenska Dagbladet, Swedish daily).

2005 b, “Multi-party era could lead to more control in Uganda”, opinion piece September 8, Daily Monitor.

2005 a, “Transition to parties has missed objectives”, opinion piece September 5, Daily Monitor, Uganda daily.

2001 b, with Björn Beckman, "Civil Society and Authoritarianism: Debates and Issues – an Introduction". In Björn Beckman, Eva Hansson and Anders Sjögren (eds.) Civil Society and Authoritarianism in the Third World. Stockholm: PODSU, 2001.

2001 a, "State, Civil Society and Democratisation: Theoretical Debates Past and Present". In Björn Beckman, Eva Hansson and Anders Sjögren (eds.) Civil Society and Authoritarianism in the Third World. Stockholm: PODSU, 2001.

1998, Civil Society and Governance in Africa – an Outline of the Debates. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. Working Paper No. 1 from the Research Programme “Cities, Governance and Civil Society in Africa”.

Academic Positions

2010-
Rresearcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala.

2009-
Research Associate, Makerere Institute for Social Research, Makerere University, Kampala.

April 2007-    
Research Associate, Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi.

Current project (2009-2011)

The Politics of Belonging and Exclusion: Land Rights, Citizenship and Civil Society in Kenya and Uganda

This study is an investigation into the politics of access to land in Kenya and Uganda. It interrogates how different groups in civil society organise around access to land, and how such struggles relate to citizenship rights and state formation. The study is situated in the context of constitutional and land policy reform and persistent ethnic conflicts. The research problem is approached empirically by broad overviews of land policy at the national level, and by historically anchored local studies in both countries of how claims to ownership, use and control over land, based on ethnicity, class and gender interplays with state intervention in creating land regimes  the systems of laws, rules and practices that regulate access to land based resources.

The study analyses issues of land conflicts, civil society organising and struggles over citizenship and political identity in a political economy framework. By so doing, it attempts to connect the critical issue of land conflicts to the equally burning questions of citizenship and state formation in Africa. Beyond the empirical cases, it seeks to contribute to theoretical debates on citizenship, by illustrating how ethnicity and nationalism are mediated by class and gender, and how the interrelationship of these identities shapes
political institutions.  

The project is funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.