It takes a village to raise a militia: local politics, the Nuer White Army, and South Sudan's civil wars

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Periodical article

Title:	It takes a village to raise a militia: local politics, the Nuer White Army, and South Sudan's civil wars
Authors:	Stringham, Noel Forney, Jonathan
Year:	2017
Periodical:	Journal of Modern African Studies (ISSN 0022-278X)
Volume:	55
Issue:	2
Pages:	177-199
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Sudan
Subjects:	civil wars militias rural-urban relations conflict
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X17000064
Abstract:	Why does South Sudan continue to experience endemic, low intensity conflicts punctuated by catastrophic civil wars? Reporters and analysts often mischaracterise conflicts in the young country of South Sudan as products of divisive 'tribal' or 'ethnic' rivalries and political competition over oil wealth. More nuanced analyses by regional experts have focused almost exclusively on infighting among elite politicians and military officers based in Juba and other major cities who use patronage networks to ethnicise conflicts. This paper argues instead that civilian militias known as the Nuer White Army have consistently rebelled against elites who they blame for mounting inequalities between urban areas and the rural communities regardless of their ethnicity. While unable to stop governments and NGOs from funnelling almost all their resources to the cities, these militias have consistently mobilised local resources for violent campaigns that redistribute wealth by pillaging urban areas.