Between Market Logic and Communal Practices: Pastoral Nomad Groups and Globalization in Contemporary Sudan (Case Studies from Central and Western Sudan)

Abstract

This article deals with the conflict between communal practices typical of pastoral Sudanese groups, especially in accessing and managing natural resources, and market logic, which became dominant during the consolidation of global capitalism in Sudan. The focus is on wider socio-political structures and cultural values that support communal practices and their contradiction with individualistic (neo)-liberal ideology. The main factors and actors of recent transformations are illustrated first. Secondly, the local perception of changes, the transmission of ideological influence and the permanence of some institutions as signalling a 'silent resistance' by pastoral socio-cultural systems to commoditization, are analysed. The dilemma and contradiction experienced by the Ahâmda (Central Butana) and the Awlâd Nûba (Southern Kordofan) in this context of conflicting patterns is described.