Social Science Research Council

The critique of inequality and monopolization of power in Sudan follows both geographical and class dimensions. The central provinces are vastly richer and better serviced than the peripheries, and the income inequality between the mercantile elite and the remainder is enormous. Unfortunately, for three decades, the geographical dimension has been consistently hegemonic in Sudanese political [...]

The establishment, development and destruction of the settlement of al-Amud al-Akhdar in Darfur’s deep south forest belt provides a microcosm of Sudan’s modernization projects and their contradictions, interlocking strata of conflict, and their violent manifestations in the recent Darfur war.
Until 1970, al-Amud was no more than seasonal-cattle camp used by Habbaniya Baggara pastoralists in [...]

In this posting, Abd al-Wahab Abdalla responds to the comments and criticisms received.
Sudan is at the crossroads and we need to be fully cognizant which paths will lead us off the precipice. If we fail to pay attention to where we are going we will surely destroy ourselves.
I have been challenged on accountability for war [...]

The third part of my paper examines the international challenges to the dominant state-mercantile coalition in Sudan, and whether there is a genuine option of transformation of the state. If there is such an option it must begin with the economy and a decisive shift away from rent-seeking to investment in productive activities. The fetishization [...]

The second part of my paper examines the external challenges to the dominant state-mercantile coalition in Sudan, which arise from Sudanese groups excluded from the dominant coalition and from regional and international interests.
The state-mercantile seesaw suffers two weaknesses, each of them potentially fatal. One is its internal fractionalization which means it is constantly engaged in [...]

The Sudanese nation stands at the most momentous crossroads since its independence more than fifty years ago. The route chosen over the next twelve months will determine whether the Republic of the Sudan becomes a failed state, devouring itself in a frenzy of plunder and mayhem, or whether the progressive forces in the country succeed [...]

Prof. Mamdani accuses the Save Darfur campaign of being deliberately ignorant. But I read his book realising that he didn’t do his homework properly either.
For example, Prof. Mamdani shortens the name of the Chairman of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army to ‘Abdel al-Nur’ (p. 250 et seq.) This proves that he is not as familiar with [...]