In Idi Amin's shadow women, gender, and militarism in Uganda - Decker, Alicia C. (Ohio University Press, 2014)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Introduction: in search of Amin's women -- - Violence, militarism, and masculinity: the making of Idi Amin -- - Gender, performance, and pain: the rise of Amin's dictatorship -- - Of miniskirts and morality: femininity in service of the state -- - An accidental liberation: women on the front lines of the economic war -- - Neither a privilege nor a curse: women and the politics of empowerment -- - Widows without graves: disappearance and the politics of invisibility -- - Violence in the shadows: gender and the collapse of the military state -- - Militant motherhood: women on the front lines of the liberation war -- - Conclusion: gendered legacies of Amin's militarism
In Idi Amin's Shadow is a rich social history examining Ugandan women's complex and sometimes paradoxical relationship to Amin's military state. Based on more than one hundred interviews with women who survived the regime, as well as a wide range of primary sources, this book reveals how the violence of Amin's militarism resulted in both opportunities and challenges for women. Some assumed positions of political power or became successful entrepreneurs, while others endured sexual assault or experienced the trauma of watching their brothers, husbands, or sons "disappeared" by the state's secu