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The ongoing conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur has received unprecedented attention from the international media and human rights organizations, and it has captured the attention of millions of people around the world. Those seeking to learn about the conflict, as well as those who have reported on it, often rely on information produced by the various organizations that are addressing the humanitarian crises spawned by the conflict. In turn, most coverage of the Darfur crisis provides only a cursory understanding of the historical, economic, political, sociological, and environmental factors that contribute to the conflict. Moreover, the perspectives of the people of Darfur and the Sudan have not been adequately heard. As a result, Sudanese civil society’s active engagement in resolving the country’s problems goes unrecognized.
Darfur and the Crisis of Governance in Sudan remedies this situation by bringing together a diverse group of contributors from Sudan and beyond—scholars, activists, NGO and aid workers, members of government and the Darfurian rebel movements, and artists—who share a deep knowledge of the situation in Darfur and Sudan. Together, they provide the most comprehensive, balanced, and nuanced account yet published of the conflict’s roots and the contemporary realities that shape the experiences of those living in the region. The cross-disciplinary dialogue fostered by Salah M. Hassan and Carina E. Ray yields a comprehensive understanding of the causes, manifestations, and implications of the ongoing conflict. Many of the contributors emphasize that despite the international attention Darfur has received, it is those within Darfur and Sudan—both in preexisting organizations and in newly formed alliances—who have taken the lead in seeking local solutions.
This book features a portfolio of affecting full-color photographs of daily life in Darfur by the acclaimed photographer Issam A. Abdelhafiez and, significantly, an extensive appendix of official local and international documents about the conflict—laws, decrees, resolutions, reports, and governmental statements—that have shaped both the crisis and its global perception. Collected here for the first time, these documents are invaluable as primary sources for researchers, students, activists, NGOs, and anyone else trying to understand the complexities of the crisis.
Contributors
Issam A. Abdel Hafiez
Musa Adam Abdul-Jalil
Abaker Mohamed Abuelbashar
Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf
Eric Kofi Acree
Ali B. Ali Dinar
Munzoul A.M. Assal
Alex de Waal
Atta El-Battahani
Kamal El-Gizouli
Abdel Monim Elgak
Abdullahi Osman El-Tom
Grant Farred
Adrienne Fricke
Fahima A. Hashim
Salah M. Hassan
Amira Khair
Mansour Khalid
Mahmood Mamdani
Carina E. Ray
Karin Willemse
Benaiah Yongo-Bure
Al-Tayib Zain Al-Abdin
Reviews
“If the North-South Sudanese civil wars were partly about self-determination for Southerners, the more recent Darfur conflict is partly about self-comprehension among Sudanese generally. Darfur has involved clashes of identity, rivalry over resources, the role of the postcolonial state in creating and managing crisis, and the phenomenon of geography as the mother of history. This volume explores these particularly complex crises of governance in an interdisciplinary and comprehensive manner designed to elicit both understanding and critical analysis.”–Ali A. Mazrui, Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and Director, Institute of Global Cultural Studies, SUNY Binghamton “This intelligently edited collection of essays fills a major gap, long left void by the absence of the voices of Sudanese and other continental Africans, in the genocide debate on Darfur. It should be read by anyone interested in understanding what Sudanese intellectuals and human rights activists are saying about Darfur and what solutions they are proposing.”–Manthia Diawara, Filmmaker and Distinguished University Professor of Film and Comparative Literature, New York University “This is a unique and thoughtfully conceived book that speaks to those who are just learning about the crisis in Darfur, as well as those who are seeking to deepen and nuance their understanding of it. In addition to incorporating local Sudanese voices, the book provides a comprehensive discussion of the multiple dimensions of the Darfur crises and will certainly challenge many of the preconceived and oversimplified narratives about the war.”–Ahmad Sikainga, Professor of History, The Ohio State University “This is an outstanding book which leaves the reader deeply and necessarily unsettled and intellectually challenged, specifically because its distinguished Sudanese and international authors question, nuance, problematize, complexify, and debunk almost everything that has been ‘known’ about the Darfur conflict.”–Ushari Ahmad Mahmud Khalil, Scholar, Human Rights Activist, and Author of Slavery in Sudan and El Di’en Massacre
About the Author
Salah M. Hassan is Goldwin Smith Professor and Director of the Africana Studies and Research Center and professor of African and African Diaspora art history and visual culture, Department of History of Art and Visual Culture, Cornell University. Carina E. Ray is Assistant Professor of African and Black Atlantic History, History Department, Fordham University, and a monthly columnist for New African magazine. Andreas Eshete is Professor of Law and Philosophy, UNESCO Chair for Human Rights and Democracy, and President of Addis Ababa University.
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