A Civil Society Deferred : The Tertiary Grip of Violence in the Sudan

A Civil Society Deferred chronicles the socio-political history and development of violence in the Sudan and explores how it has crippled the state, retarded the development of a national identity, and ravaged the social and material life of its citizens. It offers the first detailed case studies of the development of both a colonial and postcolonial Sudanese state and grounds the violence that grips the country within the conflict between imperial rule and a resisting civil society. Abdullahi Gallab establishes his discussion around three forms of violence: decentralized (individual actors using targets as a means to express a particular grievance); centralized (violence enacted illegitimately by state actors); and "home-brewed" (violence among local actors toward other local actors). The Turkiyya, the Mahdiyya, the Anglo-Egyptian, and the postcolonial states have all taken each of these forms to a degree never before experienced. The same is true for the various social and political hierarchies in the country, the Islamists, and the opposing resistance groups and liberation movements. These dichotomies have led to the creation of a political center that has sought to extend power and exploit the margins of Sudanese society. Drawing from academic, archival, and a variety of oral and written material, as well as personal experience, Gallab offers an original examination of identity and social formation in the region. This book chronicles the sociopolitical history and development of violence in the Sudan, and explores how it has crippled the state, retarded the development of a national identity, and ravaged the social and material life of its citizens. Beginning with the development of colonial states in Sudan, it establishes a solid base of discussion through an assessment of the country under Turko-Egyptian (1821-1875) and Anglo-Egyptian British (1898-1956) rules, examining institutional features, inherent violence, and the remnants of those legacies today. The book extends its investigation into the postcolonial period by examining social and political hierarchies, such as those of the Islamists and their opponents—including the Sudanese political parties, the Sudan Liberation Movement, and other armed movements—that have formed and clashed over the ensuing decades. The book chapter defines three forms of violence that have shaped the course of the country's history: decentralized (individual actors using targets as a means to express a particular grievance), centralized (violence enacted illegitimately by state actors), and “home-brewed” (violence among local actors toward other local actors). It reveals how each of these forms of violence has been taken to new extremes under each successive regime, ever deterring the emergence of a stable nation __A Civil Society Deferred__ Abdullahi Gallab establishes his discussion around three forms of violence: decentralized (individual actors using targets as a means to express a particular grievance); centralized (violence enacted illegitimately by state actors); and "home-brewed" (violence among local actors toward other local actors). The Turkiyya, the Mahdiyya, the Anglo-Egyptian, and the postcolonial states have all taken each of these forms to a degree never before experienced. The same is true for the various social and political hierarchies in the country, the Islamists, and the opposing resistance groups and liberation movements.These dichotomies have led to the creation of a political center that has sought to extend power and exploit the margins of Sudanese society. Drawing from academic, archival, and a variety of oral and written material, as well as personal experience, Gallab offers an original examination of identity and social formation in the region. The Sociopolitical Construction Of A Country -- Constructing New Identities -- The Malignant Tumor Of The Colonial State : The Antibodies -- A Tale Of Three Cities : Khartoum -- A Tale Of Three Cities : Omdurman -- A Tale Of Three Cities : Cairo -- The Creation Of The Center -- The Creation Of The Margin. Abdullahi A. Gallab. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.