The Arab Springs and the “Walk to Work” Movement in Uganda: Contest for Political Space and Freedom.
##article.abstract##
This paper presents an overview of how the Arab Springs influenced events in the Walk-to Work Protests in Uganda during the period after the 2011 election. It builds on the previous analysis of the nexus between the Arab Spring and other conflicts that sprung in different parts of Africa to provide an overview of in the fight for political space in the sub-Saharan Africa with a specific focus on Uganda. The main argument is that the recent Arab uprising have led to significant changes that call for rethinking of critical issues in the study of social movement which has in turn led to enormous implication in the theories of revolution especially in the Arab world. This study employed a qualitative methodology using historical approach to investigate the ‘Walk-to-Work’ protests in Uganda in the larger study of impact of the Arab Springs in the Arab North. Employing the Resource Mobilisation, Political Opportunity Structural and Framing Theories, the study establishes that the Arab Springs influenced a lot of events in the ‘Walk-to-Work’ Protests in Uganda. Our argument here is also that despite the fact that the ‘Walk-to-Work’ protests did not lead to change of Government, they were not mere protests but instead a manifestation of a peaceful struggle for political space in Uganda that has made a big paradigm shift in the politics of this country.
References
Benford, Robert B. , Snow David A.(2000), Framing Process and Social Movement: An Overview and Assessment, Annual Review of Sociological, 26: 611-639
Biryabarema, Elias (2011, February 17), “Uganda Ban SMS Texting of Key Words During Polls”, Reuters
Boka, Lydie (2011). “Impact of the North African Revolutions on Sub-Saharan Africa”, Open Society Institute African Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project
Breuer, Anita, Landman Todd and Farquhar Dorothea (2012 “Social Media and Protest Mobilisation: Evidence from the Tunisian Revolution, Paper presented in the 4th European Communication Conference for the European Communication Research and Educational Association”, Istanbul
Brill, Michael H. (1971), “Why Organisations Fail”, Berkeley C.A., University of California Press
Burch, Janathon. (2011, November 22), “Turkish PM Calls on Syria’s Assad to Quit”, Reuters, Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/22/us-turkey-syriaidUSTRE7AL0WJ20111122
Cotton, Timothy J. and McFaul, Michael (2003), “Popular Choice and Managed Democracy: The Russia Elections of 1999 and 2000, Washington DC, Brookings Institution’s Press
Danjibo, Nathaniel D. (2013) “The aftermath of the Arab Spring and its implication for Peace and Development in the Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa, Strategic Review for Sothern Africa, (35)2.
Ekaterina, Steponova (2012, May), “The Role of Information Communication Technologies in the ‘Arab Spring’: Implications Beyond the region”, PONARS Eurasia Political Memo, No. 159
Fendrich, James and Krauss, Ellis S. (1978) “Students Activism and Adult Leftwing Politics: A Causal model of Political Socialisation of Black, White and Japanese Students of 1960’s Generation” In Lewis Kriesberg Green Which, (Eds), JAI Press: 232-255
Friedman, Debra and McAdams Doug (1992) “Collective Identity and Activism, Networks, Choices and the life of Social Movements” In Aldo D. Morris and Carol Meuller Ed, Frontiers in Social Movement Theory, Yale University Press: 156-172
Hitchen, Jamie and Kasoma, Jacqueline (2013 November), “Making the Transition: Engaging Communication With the UN Declaration of Human Rights Defence”, Journal of Human Rights Practice, 5(3)
Kalyegira Timothy (2012, April 1) “Walk to Work: Uganda’s Year of Protest, the Daily Monitor, www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/.../- /index.html
Kaufaman, Stephen (2011, April 28) “U.S. Concerned over Uganda’s Response to ‘Walk to Work’ Protests,
Kitschelt H., (1986), “Political Opportunity Structure and Political Protests: Anti_ Nuclear Movements in Four Democracies, British Journal of Political Science, 16, 57-85
Kizza Besigye, Interviews in Kampala on 26th July 2003
Mahmood, Mamdani (2011, June 3), Uganda’s Walk to work in a Speech on the Current Political Situation in Uganda, given to the Rotary International District Conference in Munyonyo
McAdam, Doug (1986) “Recruitment to high-risk Activism: The Case of Freedom Summer”, America Journal of Sociology, 92, 64-90,
McCarthy, John D. and Zald, Mayer, N. “Resource mobilization and social movements: A partial theory”, In S. M. Buechler and F. K. Cylke (Eds), (1997) Social Movements: Perspectives and Issues, Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, California, 149 – 172.
Murumba George, (2013, March), “Time Magazine worried About Museveni’s Sanity”, Ugandan, Correspondent, www.ugandacorrespondent.com/.../time-magazine-worried-about-museveni..
Nahed Eltantawy and Wiest B, Julie, (2011), Social Media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering Resource Mobilisation Theory”, International Journal of Communication 5, 1207-1224
Onyango-Obbo Charles, (2013), Museveni’s Crackdown on Besigye Brings Tough Integration Issues into the Open, The East African, May 16, 2011. Accessed April 5, 2013 at: http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/- 2558/1162724/-/o2n541z/-/index.html
Robin Stephen, (2011), “Ugandan Spring; ‘Instability’ Spread to East Africa”, Article Publishes in Amauta in Permission from ZNet
Sim Tack, “The African Spring: More than Sub-Saharan Aftershocks of the Arab Spring”? CIA World Fact book on Tunisia and Egypt
Skinner Julia, “Social Media and Revolution: The Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement as Seen through Three Information Studies Paradigms” Sprouts: Working Paper on Information Systems 11(169):3
Stake R. E, (2005), Qualitative Case Studies, in N.K. Denzin and Y, S. Lincoln, (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, 443- 466
Tarrow S., (2011) Power in Movement: Social Movement and Contentious Politics, New York, Cambridge University Press
The Daily Monitor, (2012, July 11) “4GC Group to Hold Rallies in West Today”, http://walktoworkkampala.blogspot.com/2012/07/4gc-group-to-hold-rallies-in-west-today.html.
The Washington Post, (2011 June), Uganda could be close to an African Spring, http://www.washingtonpost.com
UHRC Statement on ‘Walk to Work’ Protests, Kampala, Friday 15th April 2011
