Journal of Eastern African Studies, Special Issue: Politics and violence in eastern Africa: the struggles of emerging states, c.1940-1990

The newly publishedSpecial Issue of Journal of Eastern African Studies, Politics and

violence in eastern Africa: the struggles of emerging states, c.1940-1990, edited by

David M. Anderson and Øystein H. Rolandsen, features four articles relating to South

Sudan:

1.Political violence and the emergence of the dispute over Abyei, Sudan, 1950–

1983. By Luka B. Deng Kuol.

Why has the issue of Abyei come to gain such a prominent place in the political

relations between Sudan and South Sudan? This article traces the origin of the

current contestation over the status of Abyei, and assesses the impact of political

violence in Abyei on the history of conflict between the Government of Sudan and

the people of the south. Through its analysis, the article demonstrates that the Abyei

issue gained political significance not only because of repressive violence from the

government and its allies, but also through the people of Abyei’s shared experience

of political struggle against oppression.

2. The grassroots nature of counterinsurgent tribal militia formation: the case of the

Fertit in Southern Sudan, 1985–1989. By Daniel S. Blocq.

Many counterinsurgent tribal militias emerged during the second civil war in

Southern Sudan, and existing studies give the impression that formation of these

groups was largely a top-down process. This article challenges that assumption

through the study of the Fertit militia, arguing that formation of tribal militias

emerged from decision making at the local level, carried out by tribal leaders. The

article discusses the wider applicability of these insights and, generally, proposes a

more nuanced approach to the study of counterinsurgent militia formation. The

approach suggests simultaneous attention to state interventions and local

interactions.

3. Ethiopian state support to insurgency in Southern Sudan from 1962 to 1983:

local, regional and global connections. By Lovise Aalen.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Government of Ethiopia supplied Southern

Sudanese insurgents with arms, training and political support. This support has been

explained as retribution for Sudanese aid to Eritrean rebels fighting against the

regimes of Emperor Haile Salassie and the Derg. However, through analysis of

primary sources, this article shows that Ethiopian policy was also influenced by local

concern for state control in Ethiopia’s Western region of Gambella, by the regional

interests of Middle Eastern powers in the Horn of Africa and by the global context of

Cold War, reflecting a network of multi-level proxy wars.

4. Discourses of violence in the transition from colonialism to independence in

southern Sudan, 1955–1960. By Øystein H. Rolandsen & Cherry Leonardi.

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. This article explores

how the outlook and strategies of the government officials who inherited the state

apparatus of the Anglo-Egyptian condominium contributed to this development. The

article outlines a great degree of continuity in state authoritarianism and repressive

governance discourse from the colonial period to the post-colonial period, and in the

principles in which southerners were ruled under the pretext of being ‘developed’,

‘modernized’ and ‘civilized’.

These articles are the outcome of the PRIO project, The Dynamics of State Failure

and Violence and earlier versions were presented at the Durham University

Conference 8-11 May 2014.