About the Institute
Re-imagining the ethical and relational foundations of social work, and preserving the knowledge of the Bakiga and Banyakigezi.
Who we are
Batinda Institute is an independent, justice‑centred think tank devoted to re‑imagining the ethical and relational foundations of social work. We interrogate the systemic forces that distort practice, from racism, class inequality, and bureaucratic managerialism to the silencing and marginalisation of practitioners and the erosion of humane, relationship‑based social work.
Through research, training and consultancy, we illuminate the lived realities of social workers and families navigating Children’s Services. Our work challenges the structures that perpetuate harm and advances a vision of social work grounded in social justice, ethical integrity, and the restoration of human dignity.
By bridging scholarship, lived experience and activist praxis, the Institute seeks to cultivate a profession that is intellectually rigorous, ethically courageous, and fundamentally humane.
Alongside this work, the Institute is home to the Centre for Bakiga Studies, dedicated to the history, heritage, oral traditions and intellectual life of the Bakiga and the wider Kigezi region.
Our vision
We envision a social work profession emancipated from the architectures of oppression: a discipline animated by justice, sustained by ethical courage, and anchored in the irreducible dignity of every human being. Our aspiration is a social care landscape in which racism, class inequality, and bureaucratic harm no longer shape the experiences of families or the practice of those who serve them.
In this imagined future, social work becomes an intellectually rigorous and morally lucid endeavour: relational in spirit, humane in method, and unwavering in its commitment to equity and care. We seek a system where compassion is structurally embedded, where accountability is principled rather than punitive, and where practitioners and families alike are able to flourish without fear or silencing.
Our mission
Our mission is to confront the structural forces that sustain oppression within social work and to advance a practice rooted in justice, ethical integrity, and human dignity. Through rigorous inquiry, principled advocacy, and compassionate support, we work to cultivate a profession that resists harm, restores humanity, and honours the lived experiences of those most affected by Children’s Services.
Our centres
Our work is organised in two centres, each with its own programmes, research and publications.
Centre 01
Critical inquiry into Children’s Services, child protection, migration and the structures that reproduce oppression in social work, and into the conditions under which families and practitioners can flourish.
Centre 02
Research, archives, oral literature and public scholarship on the history, heritage and intellectual life of the Bakiga, the Banyakigezi and the wider Kigezi region.
Biography
Founder and Director, Batinda Institute
Dr Charles Mugisha is an interdisciplinary scholar of Afrocentric Social Work, African history, historical memory, migration, refugee studies, identity, and indigenous knowledge systems. His scholarship bridges African intellectual history, social anthropology, genealogy, and cultural heritage, advancing understanding of how communities preserve, transmit, and reimagine knowledge across generations. Through research, teaching, and intellectual leadership, he is committed to safeguarding historical memory, enriching scholarly discourse, and ensuring that Africa's diverse knowledge traditions continue to inform both present and future generations.
Educated in Africa and the United Kingdom, Dr Mugisha’s intellectual formation spans philosophy, theology, history, refugee studies, social work, and social anthropology. He holds a PhD in African Studies, Social Work and Social Anthropology from the University of Birmingham, where his doctoral research examined the lived experiences of African refugee families navigating child welfare services in the United Kingdom. His work contributed to wider scholarly debates concerning migration, social justice, cultural identity, family welfare, and the relationship between historical experience and contemporary social policy.
Over more than two decades, Dr Mugisha has combined academic scholarship, professional practice, teaching, supervision, and public engagement. His interdisciplinary research explores the intersections of memory, belonging, displacement, identity, citizenship, community resilience, and social transformation. His publications have appeared in peer reviewed academic journals, including the Journal of Social Work Education, and he is a regular contributor to Professional Social Work, the flagship publication of the British Association of Social Workers.
Alongside his contributions to migration and refugee studies, Dr Mugisha has established a distinguished reputation as a scholar of Bakiga historiography, genealogy, historical memory, and African indigenous knowledge systems. Drawing upon archival research, oral traditions, community histories, clan genealogies, and historical anthropology, his scholarship investigates the ways in which historical consciousness is produced, preserved, contested, and transmitted within African societies. His work seeks not merely to reconstruct the past, but to illuminate the intellectual traditions, cultural inheritances, and historical experiences that continue to shape contemporary communities.
As Founder and Director of the Batinda Institute, Dr Mugisha leads a pioneering intellectual and archival initiative dedicated to the preservation, advancement, and dissemination of Bakiga and Banyakigezi history, genealogy, language, heritage, and knowledge systems. Under his leadership, the Institute serves as a centre for historical research, archival preservation, scholarly exchange, genealogical documentation, public education, and international academic collaboration.
Central to Dr Mugisha’s scholarship is the conviction that historical memory constitutes one of the enduring foundations of communal life. His research is guided by a commitment to recovering overlooked histories, preserving cultural inheritance, and ensuring that African intellectual traditions remain accessible to future generations. Through his writing, research, teaching, and institutional leadership, he continues to contribute to international scholarship in African history, social anthropology, migration studies, refugee studies, and social work, while championing the preservation and advancement of Bakiga historical knowledge and community memory.
Practitioners, families, students, scholars and organisations: we would like to hear from you.