Darfur and the Crisis of Governance in Sudan: A Left Perspective

This essay highlights the selective ways in which the conflict in Darfur has been presented, represented, and used by a range of actors in and outside of Sudan to promote their own agendas and interests. It draws attention to the urgency of apprehending the politics of representation around Darfur “from within.” Focusing on Sudan's historically strong civil society, the essay elucidates how the Sudanese civil society's analysis of the country's conflicts eschews oversimplified binary oppositions, such as “Arab North” versus “Christian/animist South” or “Arab” versus “African,” as in the case of Darfur. Hassan argues in favor of looking at the origins of these conflicts as manifestations of unequal development and historic injustices perpetrated against the margins by the ruling class of Arabized elites. In the process, Hassan reveals the vigorous engagement of Sudanese at all levels in the Darfur crisis, as well as other areas of conflict currently engulfing the country. The essay urges the need to foreground Sudanese voices if a genuine resolution to the country's manifold conflicts is to be pursued.