Facts

Contact person:
Jakob Svensson
Financer:
  • Riksbankens Jubileumsfond
Responsible at MaU:
Jakob Svensson
External project members:
  • Cecilia Strand Uppsala Universitet
  • Gabriel du Plessis University of Warwick
  • Kirill Polkov Södertörns Högskola
  • Sam Opio Queer Youth Uganda
Affiliated:
  • Catrine Andersson Malmö Universitet
  • Charlotte Holmström Malmö Universitet
  • Alex Kisaka Queer Youth Uganda
  • Janet Wamutanga Queer Youth Uganda
  • Henry Yiga Queer Youth Uganda
Collaborators :
  • Queer Youth Uganda
  • Pan African ILGA
Time frame:
01 November 2025 - 01 January 2027
Faculty/department:
Research environment :
Research subject:

About the project

This research focuses on "decent" work through the experiences and expectations of Ugandan LGBT+ activists. Uganda is labelled ‘the world’s worst place to be gay, because of several Anti-Homosexuality legislations, the latest from 2023, using the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality and criminalising the promotion of homosexuality. Ugandan tabloid media’s outing of “homos”, including information and directions to work, incentivises employers to terminate their employment. The most viable avenue for work thus becomes internationally funded LGBT+ organisations. Indeed, Ugandan LGBTI activists are deeply entangled with a global gay movement and their often Western-based imaginaries are spreading through digital media. How do Ugandan LGBT+ activists (in Uganda and in diaspora) experience their present work, structural, contextual, and technological constraints as well as opportunities, and how they imagine decent work futures? While deeply situated in their specific contexts, their experiences and expectations underline our world's connected and global character.

Our network brings together researchers studying digital work futures, LGBT+ living conditions, migration, and empowerment with LGBT+ activists in Uganda and the diaspora.