Alice Lakwena & the holy spirits : war in Northern Uganda, 1985-97 / Heike Behrend ; translated by Mitch Cohen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Behrend, Heike.

Series:

Eastern African studies (London, England)

Eastern African studies

Standardized Title:

Alice und die Geister. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Acholi (African people)--Religion.

Acholi (African people).

Religion and politics--Uganda.

Religion and politics.

Auma, Alice, 1956-2007--Teachings.

Auma, Alice.

Auma, Alice, 1956-2007.

Teachings.

Spiritualism--Uganda.

Spiritualism.

Uganda.

Physical Description:

xiv, 210 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Other Title:

Alice Lakwena and the holy spirits

Place of Publication:

Oxford : J. Currey ; Kampala : Fountain Publishers ; Nairobi : EAEP ; Athens : Ohio University Press, 1999.

Summary:

In August 1986, Alice Auma, a young woman in northern Uganda, proclaiming herself under the orders of a Christian spirit named Lakwena, raised an army called the 'Holy Spirit Mobile Forces'.

With it she waged a war against perceived evil, not only an external enemy represented by the National Resistance Army of the government, but internal enemies in the form of 'impure' soldiers, witches and sorcerers. She came very close to her goal of overthrowing the government but was defeated and fled to Kenya.

This book gives an internal view of Alice's movement, based on interviews with its members and numerous of their own writings, examining in particular their perceptions of the threat of internal evil. It concludes with an account of the successor movements into which Alice's forces fragmented, including the 'Lord's Resistance Army', now actively involved in the civil wars of the Sudan and Uganda.

Contents:

1. The Troubles of an Anthropologist 1

2. The History & Ethnogenesis of the Acholi 14

3. The Crisis 22

4. The War of the Holy Spirit Mobile Forces 36

5. The Holy Spirit Movement as a Regional Cult 67

6. The March on Kampala 78

7. The History of Religions in Acholi 100

8. Alice & the Spirits 129

9. The Texts of the Holy Spirit Movement 148

10. The War in Acholi, 1987 96 172.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-205) and index.

ISBN:

0821413104

0821413112

0852552483

0852552475

9970021974

OCLC:

43063221