War In Sudan Research Articles

Why Factions Switch Sides in Civil Wars: Rivalry, Patronage, and Realignment in Sudan

Side switching by armed groups is a prominent feature of many civil wars. Shifts in alignment have far-reaching consequences, influencing key outcomes such as civil war duration and termination, military effectiveness, levels of civilian victimization, and state-building prospects. In Sudan's wars, ideological and ethnic cleavages have not influenced factional alignments nearly as much as one might expect given the prominence of clashing political projects and ethnically organized violence in southern Sudan and Darfur. Recent explanations highlighting the role of territorial control, factional infighting, or relative power considerations also have limited value. In many wars fought in weak states characterized by low barriers to side switching, two mechanisms explain patterns of collaboration and defection: first, political rivalries that lead actors to collaborate in exchange for military support in localized struggles; and second, patronage-based incentives that induce collaboration for material gain. A nested analysis drawing on original data from wars in southern Sudan and Darfur supports this argument. The findings have implications for understanding alignments in civil wars, the role of weak states in counterinsurgency, and ethnic politics more generally, as well as policy relevance for factionalized civil wars.

Law's fragile state: colonial, authoritarian, and humanitarian legacies in Sudan

How do a legal order and the rule of law develop in a war-torn state? Using his field research in Sudan, the author uncovers how colonial administrators, postcolonial governments and international aid agencies have used legal tools and resources to promote stability and their own visions of the rule of law amid political violence and war in Sudan. Tracing the dramatic development of three forms of legal politics - colonial, authoritarian and humanitarian - this book contributes to a growing body of scholarship on law in authoritarian regimes and on human rights and legal empowerment programs in the Global South. Refuting the conventional wisdom of a legal vacuum in failed states, this book reveals how law matters deeply even in the most extreme cases of states still fighting for political stability.

The Poetics of Transitional Justice in Dinka Songs in South Sudan

Political historians often described the civil war in Sudan as a ‘theatre of proliferating conflicts’. While independence for South Sudan may have closed the curtain on one act, it has given rise to a new spectacle, depicted through a narrative of internal conflict and extreme underdevelopment, and directed predominantly by the state and its international development partners. This article seeks to counter the official discourse about post-conflict reparation by considering ways in which peace and reconciliation are imagined at the local level. In particular, it considers the agentive role of Dinka songs, analyzing the ways in which they bare witness to the memories and aspirations of one group within the diverse cultural spread of South Sudan society. In so doing, it explores how the infusion of old poetic forms and structures with new actors, roles and imaginaries gives force within a culturally sanctioned framework of legitimacy, thus offering a potentially meaningful arena for the narration of a locally relevant national script.

Violent climate or climate of violence? Concepts and relations with focus on Kenya and Sudan

Addressing deficits of current research on the link between climate change and violent conflict, this article aims to contribute to a more systematic understanding of the violence concept in the context of environmental change. We present a theoretical framework and potential pathways between climate change and violence and an agent-based approach to assess the interplay between capabilities and motivations for violence and the conditions for conflicting or cooperative interactions. Acting as a ‘threat multiplier’, climate change could exceed adaptive capacities and undermine the livelihoods of communities. In the most affected regions, the erosion of social order and state failure as well as already ongoing violent conflicts could be aggravated, leading to a spiral of violence that further dissolves societal structures. Against this background we analyse case studies in Kenya and Sudan, focusing on factors driving or preventing a spiral of violence. While interpastoral conflicts in north-western Kenya result in limited numbers of casualties, the Darfur conflict has been shaped by the civil war in Sudan, involving the government, rebel forces and militias, causing significant loss of lives and destruction. The impact of climate change is less direct in Sudan than in Kenya. To avoid a spiral of violence, in both cases it is essential to reduce socio-economical marginalisation, develop resource-sharing mechanisms and restrain access to arms as part of long-term strategies for a sustainable and peaceful intervention to contain the adverse impacts of climate change.

The post-colonial state and civil war in Sudan: the origins of conflict in Darfur

Chapter 1: Introduction: The Political Crisis in Sudan and Conflict in Darfur Chapter 2: The Colonial State: The Political Structures of Conquest and Domination Chapter 3: The Crisis and Collapse of the African Post-Colonial State Chapter 4: The Rise and Demise of the Keira Sultanate and the Formation of Sudan Chapter 5: The Construction of the Colonial State in Sudan Chapter 6: The Failure of Sudanese Post-Colonial Politics, 1956-69 Chapter 7: The Collapse of the Sudanese State in Darfur Chapter 8: The NIF and Darfur Chapter 9: Conclusion: From Rebellion to Humanitarian Crisis in Darfur

The Causes of Sudan’s Recent Economic Decline

Most of economists use the background of the civil war in Sudan to analyze the Sudanese economic decline in the last three decades. But a little focus upon the situation can shows that the civil war was not the main reason of the decline, as although it may be considered as one of the decline factors, but the real reason is the economic policies of the Sudanese governments which were assumed to be the principles director of the economic regulations. These policies through its fluctuations led to current impact especially since the last thirty years. This article tries to extract and discuss the decline reasons according to two types of factors, internally and externally.

US Evangelicals and the Politics of Slave Redemption as Religious Freedom in Sudan

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the civil war in Sudan and the fate of Christians there became the abiding international preoccupation of US evangelicals. Framing the complex issues in Sudan as straightforward matters of religious and racial oppression, the Americans became activists, determined to change US policy toward Sudan. One of the signature activities of the Sudan movement was the practice of “slave redemption,” in which activists purchased people who had been abducted by northern militias, bringing them back to their villages in southern Sudan. Overall, the conflict in Sudan was one aspect of a fundamental transformation, in which US evangelicals wove themselves into a global, self-consciously decolonizing church, built in part on a narrative of its own suffering.

Two “Lost Boys of Sudan” Undergo Liver Transplantation

Two “Lost Boys of Sudan” Undergo Liver Transplantation

The role of education in Sudan’s civil war

This article addresses the role that education plays in conflict, with specific reference to the civil war in Sudan. It analyses the ideological basis of the Sudanese government (GoS) during the civil war, with special reference to the role of religion and ethnicity. It shows how the primary education system was based on the Islamist ideology of the GoS, with limited consideration of the country’s various cultural and religious groups. It then discusses the political discourse of the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and the secular curriculum that SPLM’s Secretariat of Education produced during the war. It identifies differences between the Islamist and the secular educational discourses as one reason why many young people in the South took up arms against the Islamist government. With South Sudan now emerging as an independent nation, a dramatic improvement in the education sector is needed both to heal conflicts in South Sudan and to provide hope for the future to people in the South.

Sudan: In a Procrustean Bed with Crisis

AbstractCivil war in Sudan ‐ first between the North and the South, then in Darfur ‐ extends over half a century, interrupted only by a spell of uneasy peace between 1972 and 1983. Over time, a number of analytical templates have been propounded to account for the quasi-permanent crisis. The causes for conflict in Sudan have thus been pegged to the legacy of colonialism, ethno-religious divide, Islamist terrorism, a resource war, state failure, regional conflict concatenation, genocide, and a “turbulent state paradigm” (Alex de Waal). This article takes stock of the various frameworks offered for explanation both in academic writing and the broader media discourse on Sudan. The critical assessment provides for a rehearsal of available scholarship and leads to three interlocking conclusions: (1) the translation of local/national conflict into relevant international language is a form of reciprocal resource mobilization; (2) conflict analysis, and with all the more reason conflict management, are always part of the unfolding crisis they strive to come to terms with; and (3) conflict analysis ought to be predicated on an “uncertainty principle” akin to the one postulated by Werner Heisenberg for quantum physics, because the momentum of a conflict and its analytical fixation inexorably escape each other.

Contested Sudan: the political economy of war and reconstruction

Part One: Historical and Theoretical Foundation. Chapter 1: Introduction: The Making of Sudan: A history of Incomplete Processes. Chapter 2: War and the Transformative Potential: Towards an Alternative Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Post-Civil Wars. Part Two: The Unmaking of Sudan Chapter 3: The Failed Modernity I: The early Phase of the crisis (Post-colonial to 1989). Chapter 4: The Failed Modernity II: The Crony Capitalism of Political Islam (1989-2004). Part Three: Re-Negotiating a Sudan. Chapter 5: Sudan's War Produced Economy and Society: The Case for Transformative Potential. Chapter 6: From Addis to Nivasha war-Fatigue Driven Peace Agreement: Sources of Fragility and Challenges of Governance. Chapter 7: Post-Nivasha: Challenges of re-building war-produced economy. Part Four: Potential Scenarios: Conclusion. Chapter 8: Conclusion.

Policy and practice: non‐governmental organisations and the health delivery system for displaced children in khartoum, Sudan

AbstractThe civil war in Sudan and natural disasters have led to the displacement of many people of whom 2.2 million live in and around Khartoum, half of whom are under the age of 18. These children, living in barren, remote areas, must find ways to survive and meet their basic needs of food, shelter, health and education.This article focuses on the work of an international organisation working in health services for displaced people in one of the camps in Khartoum in order to argue the case for a rights‐based approach to health care, for separate provision of services to adolescent mothers, for education on sexual and reproductive health for children before they become sexually active, and for sexual and reproductive health services and education for adolescent boys and men.This article concentrates on health education, in particular sexual and reproductive rights and how gender‐based differences impact on the health and well‐being of children. By concentrating almost exclusively on pregnant and lactating women and children under five, the organisation may reduce the possibility of successful outcomes for women and may not contribute to the reduction of sexually transmitted diseases, early pregnancy and related morbidity and mortality. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Review: Africa's World War, Canada in Sudan

AFRICA'S WORLD WAR Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe Gerard Prunier New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 529PP, $29.95 cl°th (ISBN 978-0-19-537420-9)CANADA IN SUDAN War Without Borders Peter Pigott Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2009. 272PP, $35.00 cloth (ISBN 978-1-55002-849-2)Despite their obvious geographic, linguistic, political, and historical differences, the conflicts in Rwanda and Sudan have recently elicited an interesting comparison. Darren Brunk, a policy adviser for Canada's federal New Democratic party, has suggested that international perceptions of the nature of the Darfur conflict have been viewed largely through the historical burden of the in Rwanda. Because of this, the international community's fixation with Darfur as genocide is based mostly on a collective guilt over the failure of foreign intervention in Rwanda in 1994, and a (false) perception of the similarities between the two conflicts. What is necessary, argues Brunk, is a policy of caution when confronting Darfur, and a reexamination of the conflict within the context of the region's own unique historical variables.While this argument is no doubt relevant, it ignores a crucial factor determining the international community's current concern over both wartorn western Sudan and postwar Rwanda: the ability of any conflict to contribute to conditions of instability in surrounding regions, particularly in relation to human rights violations. In this case, Rwanda and Sudan are undoubtedly linked, perhaps much more than their apparent differences might suggest. Because of the porous nature of many African borders, the socalled spillover effect remains a crucial and challenging aspect of conflict mediation in this region, and has prompted scholars and policymakers to engage in a broad and necessary debate on the nature of these conflicts, and on the ability of western governments to effect positive change.Gerard Prunier has been a central participant in this debate for a number of years. A well-known and respected expert on Africa's Great Lakes region, Prunier is no stranger to conflict. Author of The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide (1997) and the more recent Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide (2007), Prunier has proven himself a sharp critic of the international community, which he argues bears most of the responsibility for allowing African conflicts such as Rwanda and Sudan to escalate.But Prunier has not simply wasted his time pointing fingers. As a scholar, he has earned respect for his ability to spot political and economic linkages, and to pinpoint the connections between seemingly unconnected conflicts. In The Rwanda Crisis, Prunier highlighted the genocide's adverse affects in surrounding countries such as Uganda and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo). Similarly, in Dar fur: The Ambiguous Genocide, Prunier described the meddling of Libya and Chad in Sudan's internal affairs.In Africa's World War, Prunier builds on this theme of interconnectivity, demonstrating in vivid and painstaking detail the long-term ramifications of Rwanda's tragic genocide. Few scholars have chosen to explore this issue in depth, perhaps because at the heart ofthe problem lie some big issues. The conflict that erupted in the Congo basin in 1998, Prunier tells us, had direct connections to the Rwandan genocide. The displacement of Tutsi and then Hutu refugees in surrounding countries, combined with the existence of ineffective and corrupt regimes in Rwanda and the DRC, catalyzed a war that, Prunier argues, was simply waiting to happen. The war that erupted in 1998 drew into its storm most of the surrounding countries, including Burundi, Uganda, and Sudan, and a number of countries further afield, such as Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. As Prunier suggests, the in Rwanda spawned a truly global war, whose legacy continues to fester in regional hotspots such as Darfur and south-eastern Congo. …

The Marketisation of Social Justice: The Case of the Sudan Divestment Campaign

Against the backdrop of the growing influence of institutional investors (pension and mutual funds, endowments and so forth) on publicly listed corporations,1 socially responsible investing (hereaf...

Countering Rupture: Young Nuer in New Religious Movements

This article deals with the religious strategies, a group of young Nuer from the Ethio-Sudanese borderland and the diaspora applies to actively engage in the challenges the global and civil war in Sudan (1983–2005) thrusts upon them. It looks at how the Nuer reconstruct their moral economy in war and exile and at the significance religious movements take in this process during times of social upheaval in the past and today. The paper specifically alludes to the various ways with which different actors who participate in these movements try to strike a balance between an outward and an inward orientation as a non-Western alternative to social transformation. Christianity and reasons for conversion as well as re-conversion among this group of Nuer thereby radically differ from those previously described among the Nuer in Sudan. By examining the strategies this group develops to transform their societies, it also highlights the young generations' simultaneous belonging to different social spheres. Hence, the article argues that the young generation, despite existing intergenerational conflict, competition, disagreements with and partial exclusion of their elders, nevertheless simultaneously harmonizes and cooperates with the latter. It is in this way that the article also re-thinks the overall proclamation of intergenerational conflict in Africa. <bold>Zusammenfassung</bold> <italic>Dem gesellschaftlichen Auseinanderbrechen entgegenwirken: Junge Nuer in neuen religiösen Bewegungen</italic> Dieser Artikel beschäftigt sich mit den religiösen Strategien einer Gruppe junger Nuer aus dem äthio-sudanesischen Grenzgebiet und der Diaspora, die sich aktiv mit den Herausforderungen der Globalisierung und des zweiten Bürgerkrieges im Sudan (1983 – 2995) auseinandersetzen. Es wird dargestellt, wie die Nuer ihre moralische Ordnung während des Krieges und des Exils rekonstruieren und welche historische als auch aktuelle Bedeutung religiöse Bewegungen in Prozessen sozialen Umbruches unter den Nuer haben. Die Studie verweist im Besonderen auf die verschiedenen Wege, über die unterschiedliche Akteure ein Gleichgewicht zwischen äußerer und innerer Ausrichtung herstellen. Dabei streben die genannten Akteure als Teilnehmer dieser Bewegungen nicht-westliche Alternativen zur sozialen Transformation an. Der Artikel verdeutlicht, dass sich das Christentum und Bekehrungsgründe bei dieser Gruppe stark von denen derjenigen Nuer – Gruppen unterscheiden, die bisher im Kontext des Sudan beschrieben wurden. Durch die Untersuchung der Strategien, die die jungen Nuer zur sozialen Transformation ihrer Gesellschaft anwenden, wird ihre gleichzeitige Zugehörigkeit zu unterschiedlichen sozialen Sphären hervorgehoben. Der Artikel argumentiert, dass die junge Generation trotz Generationenkonflikt, Wettbewerb, und einem teilweisen Auschluss ihrer Ältesten dennoch mit letzteren harmoniert und kooperiert. In diesem Sinne geht es auch darum, die gegenwärtige Hervorhebung eines Generationenkonfliktes in Afrika neu zu denken.

Biocultural Anthropology

Previous articleNext article FreeCurrent ApplicationsBiocultural AnthropologyR. SchachtR. Schacht Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreA Gap in Sudanese Refugee ResettlementThe civil war in Sudan has left hundreds of thousands dead and uprooted more than 2.5 million people. Most of the displaced people find their way into refugee camps in nearby countries to await resettlement. The United States is home to more than 20,000 of these resettled refugees, who represent more than ten southern Sudanese ethnic groups. Of these, approximately 50% live in Nebraska, largely because of the state’s low cost of living, low unemployment levels, and low crime rates.The state of Nebraska’s Minority Health Office sought help in incorporating this growing refugee population into the public health system. To do this, they contacted a local anthropologist, Mary Willis, from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), who had conducted fieldwork with refugees in Africa. Willis began by convening focus groups aimed at identifying refugee health issues. One concern of Nebraskans and Sudanese alike was the refugees' teeth or, rather, their lack thereof. A majority of Nebraska’s Sudanese refugees are Nuer or Dinka, and as do many other Nilotic populations, they practice dental extraction. Among the Dinka, this involves the removal of the lower front teeth, while the Nuer remove those teeth as well as the upper canines, eight teeth in all. This dental practice is part of a coming‐of‐age ceremony for both boys and girls and a crucial component of tribal identity, adulthood, and beauty.However, according to Willis, for the many Dinka and Nuer who have relocated to the United States, the lack of teeth is problematic. Typical U.S. foods require the front teeth for processing; the inability to bite into food could mean a less healthy diet. Also, many U.S. foods are harder than traditional Sudanese foods such as porridges, milk, and stews. Perhaps more importantly, dental gaps have social implications in the United States. Individuals with missing teeth face negative stereotypes related to intelligence, attractiveness, and health, just to name a few, and the Sudanese refugees are suffering the consequences of these stereotypical judgments.A patient inspects his new dental work.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointBecause Willis realized the importance of the anterior teeth for physical and mental health in the United States and because of the growing number of requests she received from refugees to have their teeth replaced, she arranged complete dental restorations for five refugees at UNL’s College of Dentistry in 2003. Word of mouth created such an overwhelming demand for implant restoration that Willis sought support and was awarded $230,000 from the Langeloth Foundation to assist 23 more refugees. A new grant is in the works to fit more than 100 hopeful refugees with a tool that is highly valued in the United States—a smile full of straight, white teeth with no gaps or spaces. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 49, Number 4August 2008 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/588527 Views: 187Total views on this site © 2008 by The Wenner‐Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Biocultural Anthropology. A Gap in Sudanese Refugee Resettlement

Previous articleNext article FreeCurrent ApplicationsBiocultural AnthropologyR. SchachtR. Schacht Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreA Gap in Sudanese Refugee ResettlementThe civil war in Sudan has left hundreds of thousands dead and uprooted more than 2.5 million people. Most of the displaced people find their way into refugee camps in nearby countries to await resettlement. The United States is home to more than 20,000 of these resettled refugees, who represent more than ten southern Sudanese ethnic groups. Of these, approximately 50% live in Nebraska, largely because of the state’s low cost of living, low unemployment levels, and low crime rates.The state of Nebraska’s Minority Health Office sought help in incorporating this growing refugee population into the public health system. To do this, they contacted a local anthropologist, Mary Willis, from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), who had conducted fieldwork with refugees in Africa. Willis began by convening focus groups aimed at identifying refugee health issues. One concern of Nebraskans and Sudanese alike was the refugees' teeth or, rather, their lack thereof. A majority of Nebraska’s Sudanese refugees are Nuer or Dinka, and as do many other Nilotic populations, they practice dental extraction. Among the Dinka, this involves the removal of the lower front teeth, while the Nuer remove those teeth as well as the upper canines, eight teeth in all. This dental practice is part of a coming‐of‐age ceremony for both boys and girls and a crucial component of tribal identity, adulthood, and beauty.However, according to Willis, for the many Dinka and Nuer who have relocated to the United States, the lack of teeth is problematic. Typical U.S. foods require the front teeth for processing; the inability to bite into food could mean a less healthy diet. Also, many U.S. foods are harder than traditional Sudanese foods such as porridges, milk, and stews. Perhaps more importantly, dental gaps have social implications in the United States. Individuals with missing teeth face negative stereotypes related to intelligence, attractiveness, and health, just to name a few, and the Sudanese refugees are suffering the consequences of these stereotypical judgments.A patient inspects his new dental work.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointBecause Willis realized the importance of the anterior teeth for physical and mental health in the United States and because of the growing number of requests she received from refugees to have their teeth replaced, she arranged complete dental restorations for five refugees at UNL’s College of Dentistry in 2003. Word of mouth created such an overwhelming demand for implant restoration that Willis sought support and was awarded $230,000 from the Langeloth Foundation to assist 23 more refugees. A new grant is in the works to fit more than 100 hopeful refugees with a tool that is highly valued in the United States—a smile full of straight, white teeth with no gaps or spaces. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 49, Number 4August 2008 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/588527 Views: 80 © 2008 by The Wenner‐Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Community and Individual in the Aftermath of War: Perspectives from African Philosophy

Wartime violence and exile challenge not only individual lives and realities of community, but also the prevalent conceptualisations of these in anthropology and African philosophy. Based on the findings from research carried out in Uganda among young men who fled from war in Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and who try to survive in the capital city Kampala as so-called urban refugees, the article argues that the concept of community would benefit from renewed critical reflection, and that the individual should be granted a more prominent theoretical place in both disciplines.

Effective Humanitarian Assistance to Southern Sudan: The Legal, Political and Economic Constraints

Although the civil war in Sudan is one of the longest ongoing conflicts in Africa it has not attracted much international attention. During the course of the war many lives have been lost and many people have been in need of humanitarian aid. Humanitarian assistance to southern Sudan, however, has always been insufficient. This paper analyses the legal, political and economic constraints to effective humanitarian assistance. The legal obstacles seem to be the facts that there are no adequate international regulations regarding internally displaced persons, as the bulk of IDPs comes from Sudan, and that the Sudan is a sovereign state and the Sudanese fundamentalist government as legitimate and legal authority is entitled to full control of the actions of the humanitarian actors. The main political constraints are the policies of the government and of the rebel groups towards civilian populations and aid agencies, resulting in the prolongation of the violent conflict and the limitation of access to the people in need. However, the political involvement of humanitarian organisations and badly-designed development strategies are also to be blamed. The issues of ethnicity and ethnic tensions also seem to be crucial. The economic constrains are twofold: the inadequate level of funds and the existence of 'the economy of war'.

God, Oil and Country: Changing the Logic of War in Sudan

God, Oil and Country: Changing the Logic of War in Sudan