Darfur Identity Summary

Waal discusses the divergent identities of the Arabs and Africans in Sudan. The civil war in southern Sudan, Darfur, has plagued the country for decades. The power dynamics within the state consist of a ruling Arab class that dominates from the north. This population seeks to assimilate and project their absolute dominance in the South. First, Waal gives an overview of the historical context of how the various identities within Darfur and other parts of Sudan have emerged. This is mainly through a socio-political context. Next, Waal explains how the various civil wars in Sudan have been a result of a class of identities between the Arab ethnic groups (the institutional power) and the Africans (the victims of the structural violence). Waal eventually

Throughout the article, Alafif paires each identity formation with a time period in Sudan’s history. First, Alafif discusses how the “Sudanic” identity emerges from the Dar Fur sultanate. The Dar Fur sultanate, 1600-1916, created both elements of the Arab and African identities. This was due to the fact that identity was grounded in kinship. This identity was also influenced by the violence that the power employed to control the people they absorbed as they conquered other states. This identity is recognized as a unique political unit, which is uncommon in Africa. Second, the Islamic identity emerges out of clashes between Islamic cultures from West African with Islamic cultures from the Nile Valley in the 17th century. After these migratory clans finally settled, they became the administrative government in the northern region of the country, thus, the beginning of their institutional power. In 1999, the Islamist movement split, producing factions that are relevant to the current conflicts in Sudan condemning Islamist as only power

184). The historical use of violence to gain power is redundant and evident in these current identity conflicts. Forcing someone to leave their identity and assimilate into a culture is structural and cultural violence. We know that this will most likely lead to conflict. With a history of violent resolution tactics, it makes sense for the current resolution tactics to be violent.

“The Islamic movement split in 1999…” (p. 191). This is an example of how groups become divided and how other groups are created. As we discussed in class, disruption of a group can be through leadership or a shift in ideas by one particular faction. The Islamic movement split for political reasons creating new groups with different identities. There is now a new in-group and a new out-group. There groups share general ideologies; however, their institution of these ideologies are the divergent