The ‘marketplace of post-conflict assistance’ in northern Uganda and beyond

This paper puts forward the framework of the ‘marketplace of post-conflict assistance’ as a conceptual, analytical, and heuristic tool to comprehend better holistic dynamics in humanitarian and post-conflict contexts, where a variety of different actors offer various services and forms of assistance. It seeks to emphasise relations and interactions between service providers and intended beneficiaries in settings where there are often numerous different ways to conceptualise and manage problems stemming from armed conflict. This is demonstrated using one in-depth case study of a family in northern Uganda that has struggled for years with mental illness/spiritual problems. By framing the post-conflict space using the marketplace metaphor, it is possible to deepen understanding of how people try out different options to manage issues related to warfare and seek healing. Importantly, this framework also recognises the agency that people exercise in doing so, and how communities and service providers relate to each other.