In Pursuit of a Monster: Militarisation and (In)Security in Northern Uganda

• Autores: Nicole Laliberté
• Localización: Geopolitics, ISSN-e 1557-3028, Vol. 18, Nº. 4, 2013, págs. 875-894
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Through a feminist geopolitical analysis, this article interrogates the role of monster narratives in producing geographic imaginaries of difference and lived experiences of insecurity in northern Uganda. Building upon theories of monsters as cultural imaginaries, I argue that state and non-state actors evoke colonial-era constructions of difference to construct Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), as a monster to support contemporary geopolitical agendas. By troubling state-based definitions of security, this article disputes the idea that security practices predicated on the defeat of a monster translate into increased security for those most directly affected by the violence of the monster. Additionally, this article discusses alternative narratives circulating in northern Uganda that offer different readings of Kony's role in the cycles of violence that have ravaged the region. These narratives, when viewed through a feminist geopolitical lens, challenge the monster imaginary and, with it, the geopolitics of militarisation.