Education as identity: The scaffolding of “being educated” in eastern Uganda

In eastern Uganda “being educated” is an identity that people work on throughout their lives. They develop an educated identity through participating on committees, educating their children, and subscribing to a recognizable set of behaviors. Education is a “scaffold” that can be built up or knocked down, one that is related to, but broader than, experiences of going to school or being young. Moreover, “being educated” has ongoing political advantages: those who are seen as more educated tend to prevail in disputes and fare better with various authorities, and they are more likely to benefit from government and NGO schemes. Examples from different social situations highlight the need for an ethnographically open, relationally aware, and politically attuned approach to what people are doing when claiming an educated identity.