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Book chapter | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Cultural dimensions of conflict management and development: some lessons from the Sudan |
Author: | Deng, Francis Mading |
Book title: | Culture and development in Africa / Ismail Serageldin, June Taboroff, eds.; Alicia Hetzner, ed. consultant. - Washington, D.C.: World Bank |
Year: | 1994 |
Pages: | 465-509 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Sudan South Sudan |
Subjects: | ethnic relations Arabs Dinka agricultural projects |
Abstract: | One of the main obstacles to nationbuilding in Africa in general and the Sudan in particular has been internal conflict, which not only threatens national unity but also frustrates economic and social development. Culture as a factor in conflict resolution and development can be approached from two interconnected perspectives. One relates to the identities of the parties to internal conflicts, which nearly always involve ethnic competition for power and resources. The other concerns institutional structures, techniques and mechanisms for conflict resolution and development. This paper substantiates the linkages among these processes by analysing the cultural dimension of the conflicts that took place in the Jonglei and Abeyi development projects in the Sudan between the Arabized-Islamicized North and the Dinka in the South. The Jonglei Canal and Abeyi development projects were undertaken in the mid-1970s. Because identity issues had not been adequately addressed before the two projects began, the indigenous people rejected the proposed development. In addition, the projects were perceived as coming from outside. The paper argues that there is an urgent need to develop a formula that can politically, economically, and culturally utilize the values of traditional society. Notes, ref., sum. |