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Discourses of violence in the transition from colonialism to independence in southern Sudan, 1955–1960

Rolandsen, Øystein H.; Leonardi, Cherry

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Authors

Øystein H. Rolandsen



Abstract

The Torit Mutiny of August 1955 in southern Sudan did not trigger a civil war, but state violence and disorder escalated over the following years. We explore how the outlook and strategies of the government officials who inherited the state apparatus of the Anglo-Egyptian condominium contributed to this development. They perpetuated authoritarian and violent government practices based on a legalistic distinction between citizen and outlaw, while justifying their actions as part of a developmentalist and nationalistic discourse. The Mutiny created fear of another outbreak of violence which prompted recourse to collective punishment, an expanded intelligence network and bolstered the powers and mandate of the chiefs. However, the authoritarian tendencies were paired with developmentalism and the desire to educate and civilise the southerners. Through education and the justice and penal system, they were to be ‘made to learn’ how to become ‘modern’. This combination of perpetuating colonial government practices and fervent nationalism resonates with analyses of transitions to independence elsewhere in Africa, from which the case of southern Sudan has been largely excluded up to now.

Citation

Rolandsen, Ø. H., & Leonardi, C. (2014). Discourses of violence in the transition from colonialism to independence in southern Sudan, 1955–1960. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 8(4), 609-625. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2014.949599

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 28, 2014
Online Publication Date Aug 22, 2014
Publication Date Oct 2, 2014
Deposit Date Nov 11, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Eastern African Studies
Print ISSN 1753-1055
Electronic ISSN 1753-1063
Publisher British Institute in Eastern Africa
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 8
Issue 4
Pages 609-625
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2014.949599
Keywords Sudan, South Sudan, State violence, Colonial inheritance, Independence.

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Copyright Statement
© 2014 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis. This is an Open Access article. Non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way, is permitted. The moral rights of the named author(s) have been asserted. Permission is granted subject to the terms of the License under which the work was published. Please check the License conditions for the work which you wish to reuse. Full and appropriate attribution must be given. This permission does not cover any third party copyrighted material which may appear in the work requested.





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