This article analyses how Budi County in Eastern Equatoria State (South Sudan) was governed during the 1990s and up to mid-2007. Because its capital Chukudum was the SPLM/A headquarters almost throughout that period, it provides us with an interesting case from which to explore how the SPLM/A governed during the war and how this impacts on the post-war peace. One observation is that the war, besides a period of devastation and human suffering, was also a time of economic opportunities and social differentiation. For that reason this article will also explore livestock trade as a new mode of wealth appropriation and the changing nature of cattle raiding, and how this interferes with the struggle for regulatory power and governable “spaces”. This means that we comprehend the economy as a political terrain. At the same time we leave room for sociological perspectives, to complement the more restricted “competition for resources and gains” approach to conflict and violence. The article is written in three sections. In the first section we briefly clarify why in 1999 there was an uprising in Budi County against SPLM/A rule and why it engendered massive local support. In the second section we examine one of the most destructive manifestations of violence that affect Budi county: cattle raiding. We look at it from a perspective that has been under-researched in the eld: that of trans-border trade. In the last section we look at how, after the peace of 2005, newly appointed local government authorities are (re)claiming do- mains of state regulation that previously lay rmly in the hands of the military. Particular attention is given to the capacity of the local authorities to guarantee security and provide protection. Key words: governance, violent conflict, regulatory power, trans-border trade, South Sudan Eastern Equatoria
This paper is about Southern Sudanese IDPs and refugees who, after the 2005 ComprehensivePeace Agreement, chose not to return to their areas of origin, but instead to resettle elsewhere. Rather than exploring the push and pull factors of this decision, this paper documents the ways in which they have organised their lives in their places of post-war resettlement. More particularly, it explores their selfemployment strategies in an institutional context characterised by weak state regulation and high reliance on self-governance institutions, especially social networks. One observation in particular intrigued us: the fact that some displaced were more successful than others in making a living in their places of resettlement. Consequently, uncovering why some individuals and groups were wealthier than others inspired and structured the research. In order to understand the difference between "networks of survival" and "networks of accumulation" -a twin phrase we borrowed from Meagher (2006) -it was imperative to comprehend the economy as a political terrain and to explore the structural position of groups. To this end it was necessary to complement a social capital perspective with a political economy approach.
Following last year's decision by the Belgian Ministry of Development Cooperation to streamline all bilateral aid programmes to the countries of Southern Africa in order to take account of the new regional emphasis, it makes sense now to reflect on cooperation with Zimbabwe in the context of cooperation with the SADCC. The above decision was preceeded by the allocation of a regional budget of BEF 600 million for SADCC projects and is accompanied by the setting up in Harare of a field office serving as headquarters for the whole region (except Tanzania). All these innovations must be welcomed; they imply the recognition of the SADCC and are congruent with the recommendations of a joint study by the SADCC and the OECD Development Centre, dating back to 1987.
This article analyses how Budi County in Eastern Equatoria State (South Sudan) was governed during the 1990s and up to mid-2007. Because its capital Chukudum was the SPLM/A headquarters almost throughout that period, it provides us with an interesting case from which to explore how the SPLM/A governed during the war and how this impacts on the post-war peace. One observation is that the war, besides a period of devastation and human suffering, was also a time of economic opportunities and social differentiation. For that reason this article will also explore livestock trade as a new mode of wealth appropriation and the changing nature of cattle raiding, and how this interferes with the struggle for regulatory power and governable “spaces”. This means that we comprehend the economy as a political terrain. At the same time we leave room for sociological perspectives, to complement the more restricted “competition for resources and gains” approach to conflict and violence. The article is written in three sections. In the first section we briefly clarify why in 1999 there was an uprising in Budi County against SPLM/A rule and why it engendered massive local support. In the second section we examine one of the most destructive manifestations of violence that affect Budi county: cattle raiding. We look at it from a perspective that has been under-researched in the field: that of trans-border trade. In the last section we look at how, after the peace of 2005, newly appointed local government authorities are (re)claiming domains of state regulation that previously lay firmly in the hands of the military. Particular attention is given to the capacity of the local authorities to guarantee security and provide protection.
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