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Violence, Sacrifice and Chiefship in Central Equatoria, Southern Sudan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Cherry Leonardi
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Abstract

This article explores specific oral histories and chiefship debates in the aftermath of the SPLA war in two Southern Sudanese chiefdoms. It argues that these local histories reveal much about the historical relationship between state and society – and in particular the mediation with external violence – which is central to understanding the legitimacy of local authority. Rather than being the strong arm of the state, chiefs have ideally mediated and deflected state (and rebel) violence. Unlike other African examples, they have been marginal both in landowning and patrician structures, so that chiefship has offered a more inclusive and pragmatic definition of community than have patrilineal discourses. As elsewhere in Southern Sudan, the early chiefs were often proxy mediators with marginal or outside origins and their access to government force has been balanced by the continuing authority of rain chiefs, elders, senior lineages and ‘maternal uncles’. Current governance interventions which treat chiefs as sole custodians of community land and customs may not be compatible with local understandings of the role of the chief. Oral histories of chiefship origins reflect a symbolic bargain made with government and with chiefs, whereby the latter use their ‘good speech’ to mediate violence, and if necessary sacrifice themselves to ‘bail’ people from external/government force.

Résumé

Cet article étudie des histoires orales et des débats de chefs spécifiques aux lendemains de la guerre de la SPLA au sein de deux chefferies du Sud du Soudan. Il soutient que ces histoires locales sont très révélatrices de la relation historique entre l’État et la société (et notamment la médiation de la violence externe), qui est centrale pour comprendre la légitimité de l'autorité locale. Au lieu d’être le bras fort de l’État, les chefs ont idéalement joué le rôle de médiateurs et détourné la violence d’État (et des rebelles). Contrairement à d'autres exemples africains, ils ont été marginaux en termes de structures de propriété foncière et de patrician, de sorte que la chefferie a offert une définition plus inclusive et pragmatique de la communauté que ne l'ont fait les discours patrilinéaires. Comme ailleurs dans le Sud du Soudan, les premiers chefs étaient souvent des médiateurs indirects avec des origines marginales ou extérieures, et leur accès à la force gouvernementale a été contrebalancé par l'autorité continue des chefs de pluie, des anciens, des lignages supérieurs et des “oncles maternels”. Les actions de gouvernance actuelles qui traitent les chefs comme les gardiens exclusifs des terres et des coutumes de la communauté peuvent être en contradiction avec les interprétations locales du rôle du chef. Les histoires orales des origines des chefs reflètent un accord symbolique passé avec le gouvernement et avec les chefs, par lequel ces derniers utilisent leur “bon parler” pour régler les problèmes de violence par la médiation et, si nécessaire, se sacrifient pour “sauver” les personnes de la force extérieure/gouvernementale.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 77 , Issue 4 , November 2007 , pp. 535 - 558
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2007

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