This article explores the mechanisms by which government securitisation and community counter-securitisation reinforce once another in the Karamoja-Turkana borderlands, playing a part in Uganda’s political and economic trajectory. The empirical evidence, compiled through community action research, shows how militarisation, crime, and border politics combine to create endemic distrust. Analysing the mechanisms by which counter-securitising articulations and performances create securitising effects helps explain why it is so hard to de-securitise in ways that are safe for the Karimojong and Turkana pastoralists who inhabit this borderland. Methodologically, the paper demonstrates how rigorous qualitative action research, led by a diverse group of community members, generates insight into the political and social processes at play. The community teams argue that sustained de-securitisation efforts could bring Karimojong and Turkana into better relations with the state and create a new trust dynamic.
This article was published in Conflict, Security & Development.