The Torit Mutiny of August 1955 in southern Sudan did not trigger a civil war, but state violence and disorder escalated over the following years. We explore how the outlook and strategies of the government officials who inherited the state apparatus of the Anglo-Egyptian condominium contributed to this development. They perpetuated authoritarian and violent government practices based on a legalistic distinction between citizen and outlaw, while justifying their actions as part of a developmentalist and…
repository
CSRF Research Repository
The CSRF Research Repository aims to support greater contextual knowledge for policy makers, programme managers, and implementers by providing a searchable repository of research, analysis, and resources, and providing periodic updates on new research and analysis.
South Sudan obtained independence in July 2011 as a kleptocracy – a militarized, corrupt neo-patrimonial system of governance. By the time of independence, the South Sudanese “political marketplace” was so expensive that the country’s comparatively copious revenue was consumed by the military-political patronage system, with almost nothing left for public services, development or institution building. The efforts of national technocrats and foreign donors produced bubbles of institutional integrity but the system as a whole was…
This article compares two cases of securitization along South Sudan’s border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By comparing how a security concern – the presence of the Lord’s Resistance Army – was interpreted and responded to, the article shows that border security practices in two borderscapes are improvised, contradictory and contested, and serve to establish authority rather than actually securing the border. This is apparent on three levels: (a) through the multiplicity of…
This briefing seeks to explain the root causes of the ongoing crisis, focusing on divisions within the governing party and issues of military integration. Download
This article addresses the social and political implications of wartime and post-war resource capture in South Sudan. It argues that predation by armed groups during the second civil war (1983–2005) initiated a process of dominant class formation, and demonstrates how, through various strategies of resource capture and kinship networks, commanders from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and other factions formed a new aristocracy – a “dominant class” that thinks of itself as “the best”….
By the start of 2014, violent conflict had erupted across much of South Sudan following initial violence in Juba on 15 December 2013. The speed with which the fighting has spread raises questions regarding the impact of national-level politics on violence at the local level. This article develops a framework in which violent conflict can be comprehended as a response to the interruption of the negotiation of the balance of power between groups; the negotiation…
This article examines the major challenges, including boundary problems, oil wealth, national integration, and system of government and citizenship, that may affect the stability of the state. Link to publication
This article focuses, in particular, on the church’s role as peacebuilder. Long a key player in conflict resolution, both directly at the local level and indirectly at the national and international level, the work of the South Sudanese church also illustrates well what has come to be called “strategic peacebuilding.” Link to publication
This chapter describes the importance of livestock as a fundamental livelihoods asset for agropastoral communities in South Sudan, and explains the complex linkages between the ownership and use of livestock, conflict, marketing systems, seasonality and vulnerability. It also examines how programmes to support pastoralist livelihoods in southern Sudan have introduced innovative, participatory elements that go beyond the traditional humanitarian framework. In particular, it tracks livestock interventions in the Operation Lifeline Sudan (Southern Sector) Programme since…
This article discussed the development of the New Sudan Framework introduced by the SPLM/A during the past civil war. The author of this article argues that it constitutes an alternative solution to the intractable conflict in Sudan and a model for solving the problems of political violence in Africa. Link to publication
Curious to broaden your search to Sudan?
Try our sister facility CSF