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- Title
Conflict and the conceptions of identities in the Sudan.
- Authors
Madibbo, Amal Ibrahim
- Abstract
My native Sudan has been ravaged by conflicts over identity and socioeconomic marginalization since independence from Britain in 1956. Elitist debates confined the country’s diverse identities to two dichotomous categorizations: Arabism, associated with Islam and Arabic descent and culture, and Africanism, linked to Christianity, indigenous beliefs and African culture. These polarized views, along with the dominant ideology of the imposition of Arabism and Islam as the basis of national identification, triggered a national identity crisis. This crisis contributed to the escalation of armed conflicts notably the civil war between the North and the South and the current conflict in the Sudan’s Western province of Darfur. This article explores the Darfur conflict which erupted between the central government and liberation groups in 2003, and has been described both as the first genocide of the 21st century and an ethnic cleansing in which the Arab militia are killing the Africans. Using data gathered recently in the Sudan, this article extends the debates on Sudanese identities by showing that the boundaries between Africanism and Arabism are fluid, and by positing multiple identities that resurface as a result of globalization, migration and social ties among ethnic groups. By deconstructing the dominant conceptions of the Sudanese identities, and considering new conceptions about these identities, we can address social dynamics that impact the conflict and take them into consideration when it comes to conflict resolution. Multiculturalism is proposed as a model that could help to accommodate the country’s diverse identities and foster stability.
- Subjects
SUDAN; SOCIAL conflict; GROUP identity; SOCIOECONOMIC factors; DEBATE; NATIONALISM; GENOCIDE; INTERPERSONAL relations
- Publication
Current Sociology, 2012, Vol 60, Issue 3, p302
- ISSN
0011-3921
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/0011392111426194