A relational approach to Uganda’s state corruption as an organised crime

Decoupling analytical misconceptions on regime consolidation

抄録

Research has posited profound questions regarding governance in Sub-Saharan Africa, and most of these questions are focused on political practices. Therefore, several research agendas, including that of the current paper, have focused on understanding complex governance phenomenon, such as state corruption. I will address the following research questions: How do we explain the cultural properties inherent in state corruption in African political regimes? What are the complexities within the rational ‘interest’ and the cultural ‘normativity’ while explaining state corruption as an organised crime in African governmentality? Which factors are we failing to understand? In this paper, I engage a relational analytical approach that integrates the notion of motivation (including interest, greed, and grievance) as well as the process of cultural production and reproduction of corrupt practices, particularly in Uganda. First, I seek to explain that the type of politics and environment wherein such politics are manifested define the context and extent of corruption as well as the regime’s commitment to its prevention. Second, and most importantly, the rules, experiences, routines, and taken-for-granted practices that characterise the structure of a specific polity produce and reproduce a culturally corrupt system wherein people do not question the authoritative figures and are perpetually ruled over.