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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Sudan
Index
Local ethnic communities remained in the early 1990s the
fundamental societies in rural Sudan, whether they were fully
settled, semisedentary, or nomadic. Varying in size but never
very large, such communities formerly interacted with others of
their kind in hostile or symbiotic fashion, raiding for cattle,
women, and slaves or exchanging products and sometimes
intermarrying. In many cases, particularly in the north, local
communities were incorporated into larger political systems,
paying taxes to the central authority and adapting their local
political arrangements to the needs of the central government.
Even if they were not incorporated into major tribes or groups,
many people considered themselves part of larger groupings, such
as the Juhayna, the Jaali, or the Dinka, which figured in a
people's system of ideas and myths but not their daily lives. In
the north the Muslim religious orders were important. They
brought religion to the people, and their leaders acted as
mediators between local communities. Despite these connections,
however, the local village or nomadic community was the point of
reference for most individuals.
Most of these communities were based on descent, although
occupation of a common territory became increasingly important in
long-settled communities. Descent groups varied in hierarchical
arrangement. In some, the people were essentially equal. In
others, various lineages held political power, with their members
filling certain offices. Lineage groups might also control
religious ritual in the community. On the one hand, people who
held ritual or political offices often had privileged access to
economic resources. On the other hand, many communities granted
formal or informal authority to those who were already wealthy
and who used their wealth generously and with tactical skill.
Theoretically, descent-group societies are cohesive units
whose members act according to group interests. In practice,
however, individuals often had their own interests, and these
interests sometimes became paramount. An individual might,
however, use the ideal of descent-group solidarity to justify his
behavior, and an ambitious person might use the descent-group
framework to organize support for himself. Sudanese communities
always have experienced a good deal of change, either because of
forces like the Muslim orders, or as a result of dynamics within
the groups themselves, like the expansion of Nuer communities.
The Anglo-Egyptian condominium (1899-1955) weakened the role
of hitherto autonomous communities and created a more stable
social order. Warfare and raiding between communities largely
ended. Leadership in raids was no longer a way to acquire wealth
and status. Although many local communities remained subsistence
oriented, they became more aware of the world economy. Their
members were introduced to new resources and opportunities,
however scarce, that reoriented their notions of power, status,
and wealth and of the ways they were acquired. If one invested in
a truck rather than in a camel and engaged in trading rather than
herding, one's relationship to kin and community changed.
The central authorities--links with the world economy and
with services like education and communications--were located in
the cities and large towns. Urban centers therefore became the
sources of change in the condominium era, and it was there that
new occupations emerged. These new occupations had not yet
changed the social strata, however.
In rural areas several large-scale development projects were
introduced, resulting in major rearrangements of communities and
authority structures. The most significant example was the Gezira
Scheme, located between the Blue Nile and the White Nile, and
considered the world's largest single-management farming
enterprise (about 790 hectares were covered by the project). The
scheme involved small-scale farmer tenants producing cotton under
the administration of the Sudan Gezira Board, a state subsidiary.
Data as of June 1991
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