'Internalising’ Development: The impact of the Korean-inspired Saemaul Model Villages (ESMV) project in Uganda on ‘local’ village identities and sense of community belonging

The Saemaul Undong (translated as the New Village Movement), was first introduced in South Korea in the 1970s. It not only contributed to the country’s rural economic development, but also contributed to an enhanced national consciousness and a stronger collective identity through the internalisation of external support and incentives. The recent implementation of this specific rural development model under the name of the Establishment of Saemaul Model Villages (ESMV) project in seven model villages in Uganda, raises the question on how it may impact the existing collective identities in the country that continues to portray institutionalised ethnicity in modern politics. This research, therefore, aims to study how the Korea-inspired Saemaul Undong Model Villages socially influences the existing ‘local’ village identities in Uganda as well as how it contributes to the national identity. Fieldwork was conducted in three of out of the seven model villages in Uganda between August...Show moreThe Saemaul Undong (translated as the New Village Movement), was first introduced in South Korea in the 1970s. It not only contributed to the country’s rural economic development, but also contributed to an enhanced national consciousness and a stronger collective identity through the internalisation of external support and incentives. The recent implementation of this specific rural development model under the name of the Establishment of Saemaul Model Villages (ESMV) project in seven model villages in Uganda, raises the question on how it may impact the existing collective identities in the country that continues to portray institutionalised ethnicity in modern politics. This research, therefore, aims to study how the Korea-inspired Saemaul Undong Model Villages socially influences the existing ‘local’ village identities in Uganda as well as how it contributes to the national identity. Fieldwork was conducted in three of out of the seven model villages in Uganda between August 2019 and January 2020, to collect data using formal in-depth and informal interviews, as well as participant observation. The triangulated data was used to explore the process of internalisation of the external support from the Korean and Ugandan governments by the grassroots actors, and how this impacted their sense of belonging to the community. Social dynamics were analysed using the actor-oriented approach introduced by Norman Long (2001) and Herbert Kelman’s social influence theory (1958, 1961, 1979, 2006, 2017). In addition, Benedict Anderson’s imagined communities ([1983] 2016) was referred to discuss the concept of national identity and how it was impacted by the intervention program. The ultimate purpose of this research was not to measure peoples’ sense of patriotism nor nationalism, but to rather understand how the ESMV project contributed to the understanding of collective identities in these regions. Thus, it focused on the social changes witnessed in the villages in relation to the reproduction and adaptation of ideas and practices associated with national identity at the local level. It then concludes that the formation of collective identities in these villages by the rural development project was both the means and the ends for the national economic development.Show less

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'Internalising’ Development: The impact of the Korean-inspired Saemaul Model Villages (ESMV) project in Uganda on ‘local’ village identities and sense of community belonging