Generation and migration: Identity crisis and political change among the Moro of the Nuba mountains

Abstract

During the past half century Moro society has undergone immense economic and social transformations. The Moro adopted rural-urban and rural-rural migration, among other things, to diversify their incomes and augment their sources of livelihood. Politically, the introduction of modern political parties since independence in 1956 and the emergence of regional movements have influenced Moro perception of their reality and relationship with their Hawazma and Jellaba neighbours. I argue in this paper that due to disappointments emanating from harsh living conditions in discordant Northern Sudanese towns, the Moro translate past experiences into a common identity. Migration, in this sense, is seen as a major factor in explaining the Moro crisis of identity and their oscillation between integration and aloofness or modernity and traditionalism.