Against Humanity: Lessons from the Lord’s Resistance Army

297 Pages·2018·2.051 MB·English

by  Sam Dubal

Against Humanity
lessons from the lord’s
resistance army
Sam Dubal
university of california press
Against Humanity
The publisher and the University of California Press Foundation
gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Anne G. Lipow
Endowment Fund in Social Justice and Human Rights.
Against Humanity
lessons from the lord’s
resistance army
Sam Dubal
university of california press
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by
advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural
sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by
philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more
information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2018 by Sam Dubal
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dubal, Sam, 1986- author.
Title: Against humanity : lessons from the Lord’s Resistance Army /
Sam Dubal.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2018]
| Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifi ers: lccn 2017033917 (print) | lccn 2017038132 (ebook) |
isbn 9780520968752 (ebook) | isbn 9780520296091 (cloth : alk.
paper) | isbn 9780520296107 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: Humanity. | Lord’s Resistance Army. | Insurgency—
Uganda—Case studies.
Classifi cation: lcc bj1533.h9 (ebook) | lcc bj1533.h9 d83 2017 (print) |
ddc 179.7—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017033917
Manufactured in the United States of America
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Hannah and Veena
It is impossible to know anything about men except on the
absolute precondition that the philosophical (theoretical)
myth of man is reduced to ashes.
Louis Althusser, Marxism and Humanism, 1964
Contents
List of Acronyms ix
List of Characters xi
Acknowledgments xv
1. Introduction: Against Humanity 1
2. How Violence Became Inhuman: The Making
of Modern Moral Sensibilities 37
3. Gorilla Warfare: Life in and Beyond the Bush 83
4. Beyond Reason: Magic and Science in the LRA 115
Interlude: Re-Turn and Dis-Integration 147
5. Rebel Kinship beyond Humanity: Love and
Belonging in the War 160
6. Rebels and Charity Cases: Politics, Ethics, and
the Concept of Humanity 178
7. Conclusion: Beyond Humanity, or, How Do We Heal? 210
Notes 229
Glossary of Terms 247
Bibliography 253
Index 269