Conflict in Sudan: Guns, Globalisation and Accelerated History

Abstract

Conflict has been a part of life in South Sudan for more than 60 years with very limited periods of peace. It has taken different forms over time, morphing from struggles related to decolonisation, through civil war to interstate conflict and at various stages more than one of these categories simultaneously. I examine the conflict in South Sudan through the lens of globalisation which collapses the timeframe over which societal change is taking place, a concept called ‘accelerated history’ by some writers, particularly Abbink (2001). Appadurai (2008) has provided a framework for assessing the effects of globalisation as a series of disjunctive cultural ‘scapes’ which can be analysed for the global influences that are rapidly changing the world we all live in. In the case of Greater Sudan the cultural landscape has been particularly affected by ‘ethnoscapes’ whereby a fictional primordial ethnic past is being invented, reinvented and re-interpreted, often quite violently and very rapidly with the aid of cheap powerful automatic weapons. The rampant advance of the AK-47 and equivalent weaponry has fundamentally changed ritual and traditional conflict to the point of no return. Conflict is also both driving the collapse of the age grade elder system, brought on initially by transplanted European values and the desire for efficient, locally run colonial administrations. The transition of young men to paid work rather than traditional cattle herding roles, the small arms race and a desire by young men to ‘feel their oats’ rather than accepting their community responsibilities are also contributing causes. Finally and as with many post-colonial conflicts there are power plays over political dominance, ethnicity issues and resource allocation which are also driving the conflict.