Re-Imagining Civic Influence in Contemporary Uganda : A Study of Pentecostalism´s Role in the Empowerment of Kampala Youth

Sammanfattning: This thesis explores what role Pentecostalism has as an emerging actor in Uganda in terms of empowering the largely marginalised youth population. Therefore, the purpose of the thesis is to examine how Pentecostalism may contribute to youth´s participation and influence in society and, as such, the realisation of their civil rights as the sovereigns of the country. Based on two months of field research, the thesis is constituted mainly by empirical material from interviews with Pentecostal youth1 in Kampala, as well as contextualising secondary material. This material is then analysed through a theoretical framework based, mainly, on agency theory as it explores the social circumstances in which the agency of the youth is both disabled and enabled, as well as marginalisation and identity-making theory. First, it is argued that the generational gap, characterised by patronage, as well as government`s deployment of physical and psychical violence against youth has worked against the youth and deprived them of their agency. Second, it is argued that Pentecostal churches empower youth to critically reflect over their marginalised position in society, out of which as sense of agency may grow at an individual level. Finally, it is argued that as the churches establishes constructive behaviours among the church youth, this has positively contributed to their social standing in society and the realisation of their civic influence. In turn, potentially contributing also to the wider youth population´s influence, as well as the democratic development and security in Uganda.