Analysing South Sudan’s politics of taxation from 1899 to 2023, this article argues that the ethos of taxation in the region has been and remains primarily oriented around predatory and coercive strategies of rule. Patterns of taxation and their origin are presented by considering taxation practices in colonial, post-colonial rebel-led, and independent South Sudan, to showcase how these practices continued to be yielded as a technology of rule, of coercion, and to fulfill the interests…
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CSRF Research Repository
The CSRF Research Repository aims to support greater contextual knowledge for policy makers, programme managers, and implementers by providing a searchable repository of research, analysis, and resources, and providing periodic updates on new research and analysis.
‘Protection of Civilians’ (PoC) has been a dominant focus of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions in recent decades. At the same time, ‘Protection of Civilians’ is a contested and ambiguous concept, with its practical meanings often established in the realities of implementation. The paper explores the concept of ‘protection of civilians’ and its related impact on the everyday experiences of those seeking safety. Using the case of ‘protection of civilian’s (POC) sites in South Sudan,…
This article provides a multidimensional report of the persistent farmers-herders conflict in South Sudan, delving into its historical background, root causes, far-reaching consequences, potential prevention/management strategies and recommendations for actors and policymakers in South Sudan.
The article offers a nuanced account of how identities are negotiated and contested in South Sudan, by focusing on how Murle and ŋalam identities were deployed in different ways in different places in overlapping periods during a time of armed conflict. The article focuses on the 2012-2014 period of war between the South Sudanese government and a largely Murle rebellion. Read more here
This article explores the integration of peace components in H-D-P nexus programming drawing from qualitative examples across four countries, including South Sudan. Specifically, the article proposes an analysis of how local communities are using integrative peace/conflict approaches to enhance resilience in contexts with ongoing violence. Read here
This article in the Horn of Africa Bulletin conducts a thorough analysis of the persistent exclusion of women from decision-making processes in peacebuilding initiatives across the Horn of Africa, employing South Sudan as a case study. The article takes a deep dive into outlining the importance of women’s inclusion in peace processes, not just as a matter of justice and rights, but also for achieving more comprehensive and lasting peace outcomes. Read more here
This special issue focuses on the understanding and application of two closely related concepts, “do no harm” (DNH) and “conflict sensitivity”, and their critical engagement in the academic literature. Mary Anderson published her seminal book Do No Harm: How aid can support peace – or war in 1999, which popularised the idea of conflict sensitivity in development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding practice. Since then, many models and tools have been published and considerable efforts have been…
With governance increasingly regarded as co-governance, states’ capacity to steer, correct, and discipline a wide range of self-governing actors becomes crucial for states’ effectiveness, efficiency, and democracy. This article investigates that capacity and the relationship between formal institutions and customary self-governance in areas of limited statehood. In South Sudan, the field of land governance can be regarded as an area of limited statehood. As land relations are closely connected to clan structures and intra-familial relationships,…
This article investigates contestations over the roles and legitimacy of gangs within the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in Bentiu, South Sudan. Drawing on qualitative interviews, it argues that ‘gangs’ represented the medium through which everyday struggles and processes of social contestations were negotiated between youth, elders, and protection actors. Prevailing narratives of gangs as violent criminal entities structured conflict with elders and protection actors, but to their…
Activists and scholars are seeking to end famine by promoting international legal accountability for starvation. This article deepens our understanding of the relationship between the politics of famine and law by observing the ongoing prevalence and power of legal norms and institutions during times of famine. It reveals the widespread use of hunger courts in famine-prone South Sudan and their role in legally enforcing social networks that provide for the most vulnerable. Based on analysis…
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