Some Gender Implications of the ‘Civilising Mission’ of the Anglican Church for the Acholi Peoples of Northern Uganda

Abstract

Anglican missionaries arriving in Uganda's Acholiland in 1903 saw the local peoples as in need not just of Christianisation but also of civilising. This last consisted primarily of inculcating western notions of gender identities for both men and women, with an emphasis on the wearing of gender-appropriate clothing and terminating the practices of polygyny and bride-price payment. The first missionaries considered the Acholi to have high levels of gender equality but they still believed conversion would improve women's status through domesticating them and instilling the notion of male superiority, despite the fact that local customary rituals did not distinguish on grounds of gender. Over decades, the population gradually converted to various Christian denominations, mainly Anglicanism and Catholicism, but without abandoning their customary rituals, using them as and when required, to ward off evil or ask for rain, for instance. The most significant impact of the civilising process was arguably the institutionalisation of the notion of masculine superiority now legitimised by appeals to what happened in the Garden of Eden. The paper is based on historical documents, both published and from the missionary archives, as well as on ethnographic research into gender in the region today.

Exploring the impact of a community participatory intervention on women's capability: a qualitative study in Gulu Northern Uganda

“…The population is mainly rural and Catholic and depends on subsistence-based agriculture. The main ethnic group is Acholi (Luo speaking Nilotic population) with a historically highly democratic, patrilineal clan/ lineage-based political organization [ 16 ]. Northern Uganda region went through two decades of civil war (1986–2006) between the Lord's Resistance Army and the Uganda military.…”

The functioning of gender, with special reference to the global south

“…While over the ensuing century the associated practices were generally relaxed the underlying norms have changed little (Section 3). Meanwhile, this essentially middle-class white European ideology was carried to the rest of the world along with Christianisation and colonialism (Harris, 2017). Neocolonialism supported the continuation of this process and, especially in the form of gender and development programmes, continues to do so, making gender integral to the ongoing project of coloniality (Lugones, 2010).…”

“…When missionaries and colonial agents arrived in Sub-Saharan Africa, they found qualitatively distinct and far less rigid gender prescriptions than at home, with biological sex less salient for power relations than age and seniority (Oyěwùmí, 1997). Furthermore, material needs were largely met through domestic production with women playing a major role; since Africa is gerontocratically structured, older women wielded power over younger men, including adult sons (Harris, 2012(Harris, , 2017Silberschmidt, 1999).…”

“…Missionaries attacked local ideas of personhood from multiple perspectives, starting with dress and marriage. Female converts were expected to submit to their husbands as Christ's representatives and could not easily divorce them, making it hard for them to escape abusive relationships (Harris, 2017). Meanwhile, colonial officials offered employment to men alone (Vincent, 1982) and refused to acknowledge women's political designations, for instance among the Yoruba where female leaders held titles paralleling those of men (Oyěwùmí, 1997).…”

“…Neither was acceptable to the missionaries who tried unsuccessfully to stop the latter and made monogamy a condition of baptism. Moreover, although children are essential to marriage and lineage continuation, in this sub-continent, unlike most other societies, social largely trumps biological fatherhood (Dube, 1997;Harris, 2016Harris, , 2017Silberschmidt, 1999). Since virility cannot be directly observed, it is demonstrated by begetting children, while becoming pregnant shows women's compliance with family expectations (Mumtaz et al, 2013).…”