Sudan’s season of revolt, which resulted in the removal of former president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, featured a plethora of popular organizational forms. Some of these were a reworking of the long-standing tradition of professional associations, umbrella political alliances and civil society initiatives, which had stubbornly survived thirty years of suppression under Bashir’s regime. However, a new form of association—neighbourhood committees—which were born out of the daily confrontations between Sudanese people and the security apparatus, are arguably the most distinctive and radically democratic structure to have emerged in this period. The committees subsequently evolved into a new form of political authority challenging and often displacing the micro-organs of state power.

This event, based on research carried out in Khartoum in 2019, will examine the neighbourhood committees as a means to understand forms of mobilisation and resistance during Sudan’s uprising. What might these new forms of local organisation mean for Sudanese people following the country’s recent political changes?

Speaker: Magdi el-Gizouli, Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute

Chair: James Copnall

Image: Hind Mekki via Flikr CC

This event is free but spaces are limited. Please register via Eventbrite

Presented in partnership with the Rift Valley Institute, this event is part of the X-Border Local Research Network, a project aimed at better understanding the causes of conflict in the Horn of Africa, Middle East and Asia