The State and the Neoliberalisation of Moral Economy: The Case of Agricultural Produce Trade in Uganda

Neoliberal restructuring has targeted not just the economy, but also polity, society and culture, in the name of creating capitalist market societies. The societal repercussions of neoliberal policy and reform in terms of moral economy remain understudied. Yet, there is not only limited scholarly debate on the moral economy of neoliberalism, but also on what can be called ‘comparative moral economy’ more generally. There seems relatively little discussion to-date to develop and apply more comprehensive analytical framework(s) that allow an investigation into the structures and dynamics of contemporary capitalist moral economies in a systematic, comparative, interdisciplinary manner. The overall theme and relevant sub-themes remain relatively under-theorised and under-formalised to-date, especially but not only regarding the interaction between political economy and moral economy, or what can be called ‘political moral economy’.

This paper aims to make a contribution to the emerging debates about moral economy by offering an analysis that addresses the issues raised above. In the first part, it revisits the dominant moral economy concept and attempts to chart out a different understanding of moral economy that allows, first, to understand actually existing moralities that underpin economic practices as political-economic phenomena; second, to capture and analyse all economic practices as moral phenomena; and third, to trace how aspects of political economy and moral economy are intertwined and interact and thus constitute political moral economies. In the second part it takes the analysis forward and analyses the political-economic drivers of moral economy re-making, using the case of neoliberal Uganda. The country has been selected for investigation for three reasons: the high level of foreign intervention by donors, international organisations, NGOs and companies in order to entrench neoliberalism there and bring about the first comprehensive prototype market society in Africa, its reputation as having adopted neoliberal reforms most extensively, and the apparent significant moral-economic changes in many economic sectors affected by the reforms.

To run this analysis the paper uses extensive primary data collected over a period of several years in Uganda about the effects of neoliberal reforms on prevailing trade relationships and practices - and related action logics, norms and values - in agricultural produce markets in greater Bugisu, eastern Uganda. More specifically, it will analyse the ways in which the state contributes to moral economy re-making, both directly and indirectly. Data from nearly 200 interviews with amongst others farmers, traders and state officials reveal how the Ugandan state - in alliance with other key actors including Western donors and transnational companies - has contributed to the emergence of a moral economy of agro trade characterised by a significant moral dominance of money, self-interest, short-termism, opportunism, pragmatism and a rather blatant exploitation of power advantages vis-à-vis vulnerable trade counterparts. The paper explores the rise and operation of this neoliberal moral economy and its world of hard and fraudulent practices, and shows that neoliberal moral restructuring is a highly political, contested and conflict-ridden process that deeply affects how people think and go about earning a living. The analysis reveals a close interaction between the neoliberalisation of the political economy and moral economy in this process, and the significant impact of the political–economic structure on moral agency. The process is multi-dimensional and multi-layered process that takes place simultaneously in various societal sub-systems and is therefore difficult but not impossible to ‘stop’ and alter, i.e. via a –de-neoliberalisation of (political) moral economies. In any case, moral restructuring will continue, in one way or another.

In its third part, the paper will argue that this neoliberalisation of (political) moral economies, itself part of the wider process of embedding and locking-in market society structures in Uganda (and elsewhere), deserves more scholarly attention. An improved political economy of moral economy – including the (political) moral economy effects of state policies and practice, as well as corporate accumulation strategies and practices- can help keep track of this phenomenon. It finally uses the case study material to carve out some key characteristics of the relationship between the state and moral-economic live under neoliberalism. It argues that these characteristics deserve further cross-country analysis in comparative moral economy studies.