Rumours as Anticipatory Knowledge in a Future Petro-State

Abstract

Building on ethnographic research in Uganda, this paper discusses the mundane practice of rumourmongering and gossiping as anticipatory practices. The discovery of crude oil in Uganda brought a small oil boom to a region endowed with this natural resource, including some infrastructure development, the presence of foreign oil exploration. As these companies came into the region, so too did (young) men working for them or seeking employment. However, as the development of the oil remained in a phase of not-yet-ness, a temporal space opened up for rumours about the oil - and anyone involved with it - flourishing in the oil region. The scarce information on the (national) development of the oil project only served to intensify the rumour mill. The rumours used familiar tropes such as gender stereotypes or witchcraft in relation to the presence of foreign or at least non-local workers. Ugandans living in the oil region wondered what negative repercussions the boom might have for them and viewed the strangers with suspicion. During my fieldwork, I encountered rumours of wife-snatching, sexual harassment and even human sacrifice. This paper argues that these rumours can be understood as risk narratives or in terms of sharing of anticipatory knowledge. Looking at rumours and gossip in this way highlights the presence and relevance of anticipatory knowledge in our day-to-day lives.