Neither culture nor race is at the heart of the current conflict in the Sudan. Rather it is the r... more Neither culture nor race is at the heart of the current conflict in the Sudan. Rather it is the racialized state that transformed cultural identities into political identities through the practice of slavery in the precolonial period, indirect rule during the colonial period, and state exclusive policy of citizenship in the postcolonial period. The goal here is to examine how these political and racial identities have been constructed through the process of state formation.
This article critically outlines the discursive construction of racial and ethnic identities in S... more This article critically outlines the discursive construction of racial and ethnic identities in Sudan and South Sudan, arguing its legacy is essential to understand the entanglement of state-formation, nationalism, citizenship, and political violence in both countries. Race and ethnicity were central to the colonial, nationalist, and postcolonial projects of inventing the "North" and the "South" as self-contained entities, and the politicization of race and ethnicity after independence is largely a product of "Orientalizing" cultural differences through colonial administrative rules and postcolonial policies.
Identity, Citizenship, and Violence in Two Sudans, 2013
This chapter is a theoretical analysis of the interface between citizenship, the construction of ... more This chapter is a theoretical analysis of the interface between citizenship, the construction of identity, and the state. It examines evolving discourses on citizenship and rights as well as notions of nationhood in Africa and Sudan in particular and how these notions combine to exclude and include various categories of citizens or groups.
The crisis in Darfur and the pitfalls of the north-south peace process have raised serious questi... more The crisis in Darfur and the pitfalls of the north-south peace process have raised serious question about the future of the democratic project in the Sudanese context. How can democratic citizenship be restored in the context of competing racial and ethnic identities? By the late 1980s, scholarly works on transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes in Africa were facing increased critique for their failure to grapple with the historical and political dimensions of democratization challenges.1 In hindsight, blame can be placed on the previous decade’s preoccupation with issues of institutional building that came at the expense of consideration of the existing competing visions of histories and identities in African societies. Contemporary scholarship on Africa’s civil wars is concerned mainly with interaction between elites and with specific models of institutional arrangements conducive to democratic governance. Relationships between democratization of the state and the lega...
The recent political violence in the western region of Darfur demonstrates the complexity of the ... more The recent political violence in the western region of Darfur demonstrates the complexity of the Sudan’s tragedy. While the GOS and the SPLA/M are negotiating to end the longest running civil war in the South, a new civil war erupted in the region of Darfur. There are signs that the GOS and the SPLA/M are searching for a comprehensive peace agreement to end the longest running civil war in the south. Supported by the United States of America and other African and Western countries, the peace negotiations between the GOS and the SPLA/M, however, have focused on outstanding north-south conflicts over identity, power and wealth sharing, and the future of the three contested regions of the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and Southern Kordofan. But the north-south conflict is only one of the many regional conflicts that have devastated Sudan. Furthermore, political parties within and outside the NDA have contested the SPLA/M and the Sudan government’s monopoly of peace negotiations, labeling ...
The civil war in the Southern Sudan has led to the massive displacement of about 5.5 million Suda... more The civil war in the Southern Sudan has led to the massive displacement of about 5.5 million Sudanese. About 2.1 million of these people live in shantytowns within the country, especially around Khartoum, the capital city. There are also about 2 million who are displaced within the South, both in the areas held by the SPLA and the government garrison towns. The rest took refuge in neighboring countries mainly Uganda, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Egypt.
South Sudan, the newest African state began to descend in mid-December last year into deadly poli... more South Sudan, the newest African state began to descend in mid-December last year into deadly political violence with devastating human cost. Credible reports indicate that the killing was largely ethnically driven. Recent figures estimate that tens of thousands of civilians have lost their lives, and 1.8 million people have been displaced over the past eight months, some 100, 000 people are now sheltering in United Nations bases mostly from the Nuer ethnic group; 400,000 have fled across the borders to Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya; and nearly half the population 4.9 million people need humanitarian aid. These reports of killings and displacements paint a frightening picture of possible widespread communal violence which might lead to the demise of the fragile state.
Although many studies have sought to identify the underlying causes of the conflict in Africa, sc... more Although many studies have sought to identify the underlying causes of the conflict in Africa, scholars have devoted less attention to analyzing the notion of citizenship in contested social and political settings.1 Very few have grappled with the following theoretical and historical questions. How do competing visions of histories and identities shape the processes of conflict and the meaning of peace? Are current approaches to peace and democracy well suited to the task of consolidating peace in war-torn states? Does political competition according to rules of democratic pluralism in racialized states secure the democratic citizenship of the marginalized groups who were subjected to slavery and colonialism in the past? By addressing these questions, this chapter attempts to reconceptualize the relationship between history, identity, and peace in contested social and political settings.
Identity, Citizenship, and Violence in Two Sudans, 2013
This chapter turns attention toward the legacies of slavery and colonialism in the process of sta... more This chapter turns attention toward the legacies of slavery and colonialism in the process of state formation in Sudan. It examines in particular the legacies of enslavement and the colonial policy of indirect rule in creating and shaping ethnic and racial identities in precolonial and colonial periods. The goal here is to shift the focus from essential ethnic and racial groups to understanding the processes that lead to the making of the state and its constituencies.
This chapter examines comparatively the rise of protest movements in Southern Sudan and Darfur ag... more This chapter examines comparatively the rise of protest movements in Southern Sudan and Darfur against the central government. It highlights the causes of the revolt by identifying the political, economic, and social policies of the central government toward Southern Sudan and Darfur after independence.
This chapter rethinks the question of identity, citizenship, and violence in the two newly indepe... more This chapter rethinks the question of identity, citizenship, and violence in the two newly independent states by reimagining that a common humanity and citizenship leads to a recognition of the fact that their futures, as two sovereign states, are linked. It examines the framing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed on January 9, 2005 between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the SPLM/A, and the nationalistic driven debate on the referendum which led to the formation of South Sudan as the newest African state. It also discusses critically the discourse on a “New Sudan” highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.
Neither culture nor race is at the heart of the current conflict in the Sudan. Rather it is the r... more Neither culture nor race is at the heart of the current conflict in the Sudan. Rather it is the racialized state that transformed cultural identities into political identities through the practice of slavery in the precolonial period, indirect rule during the colonial period, and state exclusive policy of citizenship in the postcolonial period. The goal here is to examine how these political and racial identities have been constructed through the process of state formation.
This article critically outlines the discursive construction of racial and ethnic identities in S... more This article critically outlines the discursive construction of racial and ethnic identities in Sudan and South Sudan, arguing its legacy is essential to understand the entanglement of state-formation, nationalism, citizenship, and political violence in both countries. Race and ethnicity were central to the colonial, nationalist, and postcolonial projects of inventing the "North" and the "South" as self-contained entities, and the politicization of race and ethnicity after independence is largely a product of "Orientalizing" cultural differences through colonial administrative rules and postcolonial policies.
Identity, Citizenship, and Violence in Two Sudans, 2013
This chapter is a theoretical analysis of the interface between citizenship, the construction of ... more This chapter is a theoretical analysis of the interface between citizenship, the construction of identity, and the state. It examines evolving discourses on citizenship and rights as well as notions of nationhood in Africa and Sudan in particular and how these notions combine to exclude and include various categories of citizens or groups.
The crisis in Darfur and the pitfalls of the north-south peace process have raised serious questi... more The crisis in Darfur and the pitfalls of the north-south peace process have raised serious question about the future of the democratic project in the Sudanese context. How can democratic citizenship be restored in the context of competing racial and ethnic identities? By the late 1980s, scholarly works on transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes in Africa were facing increased critique for their failure to grapple with the historical and political dimensions of democratization challenges.1 In hindsight, blame can be placed on the previous decade’s preoccupation with issues of institutional building that came at the expense of consideration of the existing competing visions of histories and identities in African societies. Contemporary scholarship on Africa’s civil wars is concerned mainly with interaction between elites and with specific models of institutional arrangements conducive to democratic governance. Relationships between democratization of the state and the lega...
The recent political violence in the western region of Darfur demonstrates the complexity of the ... more The recent political violence in the western region of Darfur demonstrates the complexity of the Sudan’s tragedy. While the GOS and the SPLA/M are negotiating to end the longest running civil war in the South, a new civil war erupted in the region of Darfur. There are signs that the GOS and the SPLA/M are searching for a comprehensive peace agreement to end the longest running civil war in the south. Supported by the United States of America and other African and Western countries, the peace negotiations between the GOS and the SPLA/M, however, have focused on outstanding north-south conflicts over identity, power and wealth sharing, and the future of the three contested regions of the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and Southern Kordofan. But the north-south conflict is only one of the many regional conflicts that have devastated Sudan. Furthermore, political parties within and outside the NDA have contested the SPLA/M and the Sudan government’s monopoly of peace negotiations, labeling ...
The civil war in the Southern Sudan has led to the massive displacement of about 5.5 million Suda... more The civil war in the Southern Sudan has led to the massive displacement of about 5.5 million Sudanese. About 2.1 million of these people live in shantytowns within the country, especially around Khartoum, the capital city. There are also about 2 million who are displaced within the South, both in the areas held by the SPLA and the government garrison towns. The rest took refuge in neighboring countries mainly Uganda, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Egypt.
South Sudan, the newest African state began to descend in mid-December last year into deadly poli... more South Sudan, the newest African state began to descend in mid-December last year into deadly political violence with devastating human cost. Credible reports indicate that the killing was largely ethnically driven. Recent figures estimate that tens of thousands of civilians have lost their lives, and 1.8 million people have been displaced over the past eight months, some 100, 000 people are now sheltering in United Nations bases mostly from the Nuer ethnic group; 400,000 have fled across the borders to Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya; and nearly half the population 4.9 million people need humanitarian aid. These reports of killings and displacements paint a frightening picture of possible widespread communal violence which might lead to the demise of the fragile state.
Although many studies have sought to identify the underlying causes of the conflict in Africa, sc... more Although many studies have sought to identify the underlying causes of the conflict in Africa, scholars have devoted less attention to analyzing the notion of citizenship in contested social and political settings.1 Very few have grappled with the following theoretical and historical questions. How do competing visions of histories and identities shape the processes of conflict and the meaning of peace? Are current approaches to peace and democracy well suited to the task of consolidating peace in war-torn states? Does political competition according to rules of democratic pluralism in racialized states secure the democratic citizenship of the marginalized groups who were subjected to slavery and colonialism in the past? By addressing these questions, this chapter attempts to reconceptualize the relationship between history, identity, and peace in contested social and political settings.
Identity, Citizenship, and Violence in Two Sudans, 2013
This chapter turns attention toward the legacies of slavery and colonialism in the process of sta... more This chapter turns attention toward the legacies of slavery and colonialism in the process of state formation in Sudan. It examines in particular the legacies of enslavement and the colonial policy of indirect rule in creating and shaping ethnic and racial identities in precolonial and colonial periods. The goal here is to shift the focus from essential ethnic and racial groups to understanding the processes that lead to the making of the state and its constituencies.
This chapter examines comparatively the rise of protest movements in Southern Sudan and Darfur ag... more This chapter examines comparatively the rise of protest movements in Southern Sudan and Darfur against the central government. It highlights the causes of the revolt by identifying the political, economic, and social policies of the central government toward Southern Sudan and Darfur after independence.
This chapter rethinks the question of identity, citizenship, and violence in the two newly indepe... more This chapter rethinks the question of identity, citizenship, and violence in the two newly independent states by reimagining that a common humanity and citizenship leads to a recognition of the fact that their futures, as two sovereign states, are linked. It examines the framing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed on January 9, 2005 between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the SPLM/A, and the nationalistic driven debate on the referendum which led to the formation of South Sudan as the newest African state. It also discusses critically the discourse on a “New Sudan” highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.
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