Women and Religion in Sudan's Civil War: Singing through Conflict

Abstract

During Sudan's second civil war (1983 to 2005), many Dinka people repudiated their existing religious beliefs and sought Christian baptism. Women were at the forefront of this movement. Not only were women among the first to convert to Christianity, they also became leaders of the grassroots Christian movement. Among Dinka communities displaced outside of Sudan, women organised an affinity group in the church through which they channelled their frustration with the war and hope for its conclusion. Women were also among the most significant composers of many of the new Christian hymns that were written during the war, emerging as the leading theologians of the conversion movement. By looking at the gendered impacts of civil war on religious expression, we can come to new understandings of the way societies are transformed during violence.