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‘“Demonstrating the machine guns”: rebellion, violence and state formation in early colonial Darfur’

Vaughan, Christopher

‘“Demonstrating the machine guns”: rebellion, violence and state formation in early colonial Darfur’ Thumbnail


Authors

Christopher Vaughan



Abstract

Recent literature on British colonial rule in Africa has increasingly emphasised the ways in which relatively cautious colonial states were formed in processes of engagement and accommodation with local societies. This article uses the example of a major rebellion against colonial authority in southern Darfur in 1921 to demonstrate the ways in which these processes of local engagement might themselves feed into rebellion against state authority, rather than secure colonial rule. The rebellion was inspired by Mahdist millenarian belief, but the involvement of local societies in both the rebellion and its repression was also shaped by patterns of local rivalries into which the colonial state had entered as an additional actor. The article also reminds us, more broadly, that spectacular violence and local accommodation were not distinct modes of colonial governance but rather continually intertwined in processes of colonial state formation.

Citation

Vaughan, C. (2014). ‘“Demonstrating the machine guns”: rebellion, violence and state formation in early colonial Darfur’. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 42(2), 286-307. https://doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2014.894706

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Mar 19, 2014
Publication Date Mar 1, 2014
Deposit Date Sep 12, 2012
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
Print ISSN 0308-6534
Electronic ISSN 1743-9329
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 42
Issue 2
Pages 286-307
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2014.894706

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Copyright Statement
This is an electronic version of an article published in Vaughan, Christopher (2014). ‘“Demonstrating the machine guns” rebellion, violence and state formation in early colonial Darfur’. Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 42(2): 286-307. Journal of imperial and commonwealth history is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2014.894706




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