Author more books to make your research known, dons told

Makerere University Director of Research and Graduate Training Prof Buyinza Mukadasi has advised academic researchers to always exhibit their works by authoring books on different issues affecting people.

He said by doing this, they will be sharing knowledge with millions of people to enable them to make informed decisions on issues affecting them.

“Academic researchers in Uganda and Africa work a lot but our work is not exhibited. Our competition is so minimal because we lack the art and science of communication and how to send our works to a wider community. Many colleagues have conducted several research projects but they end up publishing an academic article instead of authoring books,” Prod Buyinza said.

He made the remarks earlier this week at Makerere University during the launch of a book titled; ‘Gender and Socio-economic change with a focus on the everyday lives of women and men in Uganda.

Ugandan researchers, according to Prof Buyinza, have accumulated a lot of knowledge and understanding and it is the time that they think of sharing it with the global readership through authoring books.

To author more books and share knowledge, the authors also need to be supported financially since their work involves engaging different parties as well as traveling from one place to another.

Prof Buyinza said despite being one of the best universities in Africa, Makerere University still has a challenge of less scholarly works.

“If we are to cite our scholarly works, there are not many since it is not our culture. We should combine efforts so that we have our publisher. With committed contributors, we shall be able to have as many scholarly works as possible,” Prof Buyinza added.

Prof Margareta Espling, one of the editors of the book, who has also been collaborating with the School of Women and Gender Studies (SWGS) at Makerere University since 2002 and a Swedish collaborator on the Sida-Makerere Bilateral project on Gender Mainstreaming, said the publication is concerned with how socio-economic change interacts with gender relations, roles, and responsibilities in everyday lives of women and men in Uganda.

“Recognizing the significance and relevance of the interlinkages and interrelationships between gender dimensions and aspects of culture, work, social justice, governance, conflict, and violence SWGS has undertaken research for a deeper understanding of these interrelationships and socio-economic change and transformation, and how these play out in everyday lives of Ugandan. The results of the research are the products presented in this book,” said Prof Margareta, who is a senior lecturer at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Dr Sarah Ssali, the Dean SWGS, described the publication as a good one in this era of acquiring knowledge.

 “We are locating Africa as a sight of knowledge generation and not merely a consumer of knowledge developed elsewhere. This book is proof we can have gender studies that are locally grounded,” she said.

Beyond the academic piece, the book communicates that gender and gender knowledge exist everywhere in the world.

“This is a testament that African gender scholars can also be producers of gender knowledge and not only speak about it,” Dr Ssali added.

Associate Professor Consolata Kabonesa, who is also the Principal Investigator of the Sida-Makerere Bilateral project on gender mainstreaming, said the idea of writing the book was conceived in 2014 and the process of writing started in 2018.

“We didn’t know which book at the time (in 2014) but we said we're going to do so. We, however, went ahead and started on this book in 2018. This book is very crucial for policymakers, development partners, development experts, gender activists, students of gender, and academia. We hope we can author many more books,” Associate Professor Kabonesa said.

About the book

Titled Gender and Socio-Economic Change with a focus on the everyday lives of women and men in Uganda, the 14-chapter book covers work and everyday lives, post-conflict and Gender-based violence, and mainstream gender in policy response.

The authors include Professor Consolata Kabonesa, Dr David Mugambe Mpiima, Dr Fredrick Immanuel Kindi, Dr Victoria Namuggala, Dr Henry Manyire, Dr Evelyn Lutwama Rukundo, Dr May Sengendo, Dr Florence Ebila, Associate Professor Elizabeth Kaase Bwanga, Dr Ronald Sebba Kalyango, Dr Resty Naiga, Dr Euzobia Mugisha Baine, Dr Ruth Nsibirano, late Dr Catherine Pauline Anen and Lydia Namukwaya.