Paper short abstract:

The paper argues that the evolving character of the state and society has led to new configurations and connections between citizens and the state.

Paper long abstract:

The year 2012 will go down in the history of Uganda as the year of jubilee and reawakened civil activism. The streets of Kampala were awash with police and protesters every month since the Presidential elections of 2011. Indeed police became a a permanent feature of the roads of Kampala replacing all the decorative flowers and each event by civil society was watched with a dose of skepticism and anxiety. What did all these civic actions mean and why the state brutality. In this paper I argue that the evolving character of the state and society has led to new configurations and connections between citizens and the state. While the state works and desires to see a more docile society and citizens, its actions and in actions have given rise to a more aggressive political opposition and bolder civil society. Today the state employs several tactics to tame civil society actions. These state actions become an important indicator of the role that civil society is 'expected' to play and is playing. These unintended consequences of the post-2011 Uganda and recent North Africa citizen actions are important reflections that we need to interrogate as we reflect on the role of the civil society in Africa.