The Political Prison: Prisoners’ Collective Action in Late Colonial Uganda

This workshop is part of the Social Penalities Across Boundaries workshop series. 

Speaker: Dr Katherine Bruce-Lockhart, University of Waterloo (Canada)

Abstract:

In the lead-up to independence, incarcerated people across Uganda took part in a series of collective actions, challenging colonial authority behind and beyond bars. This paper examines the trajectory of these mobilizations, which included strikes, escape attempts, and calls for better treatment and conditions. It situates these activities within the wider political context of late colonial Uganda, a time of rising anti-colonial protests and the widespread use of incarceration by the state to deal with dissent.

Uganda’s prison system was in crisis in the post-World War II period, characterized by significant overcrowding, worsening day-to-day conditions, and violence. In response, prisoners pushed for changes, insisting that their basic needs and rights be met. Their actions reflect the diverse motivations and modes of political engagement in late colonial carceral spaces in Uganda, led by prisoners with a range of concerns, claims, and collectivities. Whereas most of the scholarship on incarceration and decolonization focuses on famous political prisoners, such as Nelson Mandela and others who played a prominent role in postcolonial governments, this paper shifts the focus to the myriad ways that less high-profile incarcerated people practiced politics behind bars, contesting colonial authority in direct and more subtle ways.

Bio: Dr. Katherine Bruce-Lockhart is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Waterloo and a faculty member at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. Her research examines the global history of prisons, punishment, and human rights. Bruce-Lockhart’s recent book, Carceral Afterlives: Prisons, Detention, and Punishment in Postcolonial Uganda, analyzes how prisons and other colonial carceral spaces persisted in Uganda after independence and critiques their ongoing existence.

This workshop is part of the Social Penalities Across Boundaries series which is organised by Professor Richard Sparks, University of Edinburgh, and Professor Máximo Sozzo, Universidad Nacional del Litoral in Argentina (UNL).