1
Georgetown University-SFS-Q
Research Seminar
Anthropology of War and Peace in Darfur
ANTH 305-1
August 21-Nov.27, 2017
Fall 2017
Instructor
Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf
Office Number 0D-55
Office Hours Monday & Wednesday: By Appointment
2
Doyle Seminar This course is a Doyle Seminar, part of the Doyle Engaging Difference Program, a new campus-wide curricular initiative, and gives faculty the opportunity to enhance the student research component of upper-level seminars that address questions of national, social, cultural, religious, moral, and other forms of difference. The Doyle seminars are intended to deepen student learning about diversity and difference through enhanced research opportunities, interaction with thought leaders, and dialogue with the Georgetown community and beyond.
Description
Generations of travelers, historians, ethnographers, colonial administrators, humanitarian workers, celebrities, and
NGO personnel have produced an enormous amount of knowledge about the Darfur. This course draws upon
illustrative examples from the earliest forms of travel writing to the most recent forms of digital activism. Although
recent events around the world have managed to divert attention from Darfur, its significance in international politics
continued since the arrest warrant was issued for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in accordance with United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1593, concerning genocide and war crimes in Darfur. The United Nations
Security Council referred the case to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court,
after the investigation of Sudan's own special prosecutor had not led to war prosecutions, suggesting the failure of
institutions of justice within the country. Events of this magnitude are to be expected given the pervasive political
violence that engulfed the country following its independence from British rule in January 1956. Ever since, the
Sudan was converted into a theatre of atrocity that shattered lives and rendered ordinary citizens perpetual refugees
and internally displaced people in a vast territory, the largest in the African continent. Within this context, this course
will examine multiple topics pertaining to the debates on genocide and ethnic cleansing, sexual violence, and conflict
mediation. It examines local, national, international, and transnational responses to the crisis.
Themes
History & Knowledge Production
This course considers how both past and present circuits of knowledge production about Darfur have systematically
attempted to understand Darfur’s identities in binary terms. Despite different politically informed frameworks, the
region’s identity has been divided into two entities: Zurga or indigenous black African and invader-settler and migrant
Arabs. This bifurcated view not only altered self-perceptions in the region by politicizing ethnicity, but also affected
views on the conflict at the national and international levels. What this form of knowledge overlooks is the many
variations within these two seemingly oppositional groups, each with different views about its relationship to politics
and the state. Since the topics which will be discussed in the course are fundamental to anthropological
understanding of the region’s politics and identity, we will cover multiple forces that take into account the
contestations over knowledge-production to examine ways of broadening our understanding of the atrocities by
challenges oversimplified views on the conflict. We will probe culture and politics and trace the development of a
political militancy that overwhelmed social arrangements among peoples with long histories of intermixing in a
complex geography.
Ethnology
Much has been written on the Darfur crisis. For the most part, the literature assumes binary categories previously
deployed in the media to explain the civil war between North and South Sudan. The predominant narrative pivoted
3
around ideas about the mighty Arab (Janjaweed militias) catching the meek indigenous black African (Fur, Zaghawa,
and Massaleet) to pursue genocide or, at least, ethnic cleansing. Invariably, most of the writings produced on the
subject have ignored the facts on the ground, primary of which is that Darfur, unlike the South, is part and parcel of
Arabized Northern Sudan. This course will trace the trajectory of this identity formation as an outcome of political,
economic, and environmental processes in the Sudan as a whole.
Representation of Political Violence
Competing narratives around the world emerged vis-à-vis the representation of Darfur. In the Sudan, we encounter different views stressing problems typical of state failure in the postcolonial situation of the Sudan including failed governance, reproduction of marginality, militarization, ignoring the environmental degradation, dismantling of native administration, and banditry. Elsewhere, there is an entirely different set of understandings are employed to explain the root causes of the political violence in the region as opposed to diaspora perspectives on the subject. The course will engage with these topics through multiple lens including the representations advanced by many parties around the World. Among the questions we ask, therefore, are: How has knowledge been produced about Darfur’s past and present, particularly since the eruption of the political violence that has afflicted the region since 2003, and to what effect? What is at stake in the knowledge produced in terms of understanding ethnic, regional, class, and gender politics as well as the evolving truth regimes purporting to provide definitive explanations about the causes of the conflict? What does the thirteen-year-old term “Darfurian”—coined mainly outside the Sudan—mean for individuals and communities living within and outside of the region? How is that knowledge affected by the extensive movements and dislocations of people, and how does it generate specific migrant/diaspora communities? Also, what and how do newer circuits of knowledge via electronic media lend themselves to the complexity of this exercise?
Diaspora Politics
Host societies to Darfur migrants and refugees provide a range of opportunities for what can and cannot be narrated.
These locations and strategic interests of these migrant communities sculpt their views and subsequently their
involvement in the politics of their homeland. Systematic comparisons of the different narratives on the devastation of
Darfur will be carried out.
Humanitarianism
The scale, scope, and significance of humanitarian action have expanded significantly since the late 1980s. This course reflects on two ways in which humanitarianism has been transformed. First, its purpose has been politicized. Whereas once humanitarian actors attempted to insulate themselves from the world of politics, they now work closely with states and attempt to eliminate the root causes of conflict that place individuals at risk. Second, a field of humanitarianism has become institutionalized; during the 1990s the field and its agencies became more professionalized and rationalized. Drawing on various strands of organizational theory, I examine the forces that have contributed to these transformations. We will explore how these transformations have changed the nature of what humanitarian organizations are and what they do. Finally, we will consider how the transformation of humanitarianism links to the relationship between international nongovernmental organizations and world order, including the purpose of humanitarian action and its distinctive function in global politics.
Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes
To augment the ability to understand anthropological knowledge on theoretical and methodological concepts and
perspectives on war and political violence. The major outcomes can be summarized as follows:
(1) All the readings will elucidate the links between culture and politics, theory and method.
(2) Major contributions of the ethnographic analysis of political violence will contribute to a nuanced
understanding of current political affairs today.
(3) Understanding the important debates on human rights in Darfur.
4
(4) Grasping of subject-specific knowledge and understanding of key concepts will further skills and qualities
that are by no means limited to technical knowledge and disciplinary familiarity only.
(5) It will advance research skills and the ability to apply knowledge, critical thinking and communicating wide-
ranging perspectives effectively in and outside the classroom.
Delivery
To create enabling mechanisms for learning through active participation, several methods will be employed as key to
the delivery of the course material. These will include seminars, research sessions, presentations, documentary film
viewing and discussion and a guest lecture.
Discipline
Attendance is compulsory. Unexcused absences will not be accepted. Five points will be deducted from final the final
grade except for Deans’ excused absences.
Classroom discipline. Mobile phones and computers are not allowed in class unless otherwise required for specific
sessions.
Close attention must be paid to time. No late arrivals or departures without advanced notice.
Assignments
Graded Assignments
A one single-spaced review should be brought to each class for discussion purposes. This short review must
represent your understanding of the authors' purpose and arguments. It should include a critical opinion and
evidence to support your own reading. For excellent tips on how to compose a book review see
www.library.daLcOlow/guides/book review. Group presentations (see Oral Presentation Rubric on BB) (10 points)
Participation based on the readings and submission of written weekly reflections each class under discussion. (10
points). Please adhere to the Reading and Writing Rubric on BB
Presentations and submission: Drawing on News websites Oral Narratives, Blogs and other Social Media. Focus:
Darfur Refugees in Israel, Australia, Egypt, and the United States (30points)
Midterm Oral Exam (10 points). Oral exam covers questions on the readings and facts covered in the first part of the
semester.
A Group Project: “Design a Session” Assignment (10 points)
Photographic Essay (10 points). Choose 8-10 photographs to convey your thoughts on a topic of your choice
pertaining to Darfur. For a guide please see, https://digital-photography-school.com/5-photo-essay-tips/
Examples may include an analysis of photographic projects such as this one done by Brian Sokol:
http://briansokol.com/sudanese-refugees#/id/i4932055
Final project. Independent research paper on a pre-approved topic based on your research case study. A ten-page
double spaced paper should apply main themes, theoretical issues and methodological approaches covered in class.
Your paper should reflect Knowledge of relevant concept and issues, in-depth understanding and critical thinking,
analysis of a variety of sources, structure, clarity of language and attention to detail including references. (20 point)
5
Grades are final, missed, late assignments, unexcused abscences or presentations
will affect the grade. Points will be deducted as follows:
Absences 5 points
Late assignments 5 points
Missed presentation 20 points
Lack of accountable participation in class discussion 10 points
Late submission of the final project 5 points
Deadlines
All reflection comments must be brought to each session.
Mid-term Oral Exam: October 16, 2017
Photographic Essays’ Presentations: October 30, 2017
Final Project: November 30, 2017
Grading Scale
The grading scale will be based on the following:
A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F 59
6
Required Readings
Books
Barnett, M., 2011. Empire of humanity: A history of humanitarianism. Cornell University Press.
Mamdani, M., 2010. Saviors and survivors: Darfur, politics, and the war on terror. Three Rivers Press.
Mody, B., 2010. The geopolitics of representation in foreign news: Explaining Darfur. Lexington Books.
Resources for Class Presentations and Projects
Bornstein, E. and Redfield, P. eds., 2011. Forces of compassion: humanitarianism between ethics and politics.
School for Advanced Research Press.
O'Fahey, R.S., 2009. Darfur and the British: sourcebook. Hurst.
Required Articles from Sudan Notes & Records (JSTOR)
Arguably the most extensive and authoritative source of published knowledge about Sudan was for many
decades the journal Sudan Notes and Records (SNR), which was launched two years after the 1916
annexation of the independent Sultanate of Darfur to the Sudan by the British. Its authors were primarily
British governors and district commissioners in the Sudan, most of whom were Cambridge and Oxford
trained anthropologists, and for them, no detail was too small to be incorporated in the journal, whether
.about handicraft and wildlife or history and antiquity.
7
Ethnographic Articles and Entries by A. J. Arkell:
"The medieval History of Darfur in its relation to other cultures and to the Nilotic Sudan." Sudan Notes and
Records 40 (1959): 44-47.
"The History of Darfur 1200-1700 AD." Sudan Notes and Records (1951): 207-238. "Darfur Antiquities." Sudan Notes and Records 19, no. 2 (1936): 301-311. "The Removal of the Uvula in Infants in Darfur." Sudan Notes and Records 19, no. 2 (1936): 322-323. “The Double Spiral Amulet." Sudan Notes and Records 20, no. 1 (1937): 151-155. "The tigda or reaping knife in Darfur." Sudan Notes and Records20, no. 2 (1937): 306-307. Beaton, A. C. “The Fur.” Sudan Notes and Records 29, no. 1(1948): 139. Boustead, J. E. H., and JEH Boustead Bey. "THE YOUTH & LAST DAYS OF SULTAN ALI DINAR" A FUR VIEW"." Sudan Notes and Records 22, no. 1 (1939): 149-153.
8
Gillan, J. A. "Darfur, 1916." Sudan Notes and Records 22, no. 1 (1939): 1-25.
Lampen, G. D. "History of Darfur." Sudan Notes and Records 31, no. 2 (1950): 177-209. MacMichael, Harold A. "Notes on the Zaghawa and the People of Gebel Midob, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan." The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 42 (1912): 288-344. McMichael, Harold Alfred. "Nubian elements in Darfur." Sudan Notes and Records 1, no. 1 (1918): 30-48. Theobald, A. B. "Darfur and its neighbors under Sultan Ali Dinar, 1898-1916." Sudan Notes and Records 40 (1959): 113-120. Recommended Ethnographic Essays SNR
Arkell, A.J.
"The Baza festival in Jebel Meidob." Sudan Notes and Records 28 (1947): 127-134. "Magic and medicine in Dar Masalit." Sudan Notes and Records 9, no. 1 (1926): 89-94.
"MĀNI MAGIC IN NORTHERN DARFUR." Sudan Notes and Records 19, no. 2 (1936): 317-319. "A Christian church and monastery at Ain Farah, Darfur." Kush 7 (1959): 115-19. "Rock pictures in northern Darfur." Sudan Notes and Records 20, no. 2 (1937): 281-287.
Davies, R. "The Masalit Sultanate." Sudan Notes and Records 7, no. 2 (1924): 49-62.
EGS-H. "THE SACRED DRUM OF DAR TURRTI. J. MEIDOB." Sudan Notes and Records (1920): 225-227. Macintosh, E. H. "A Note on the Dago Tribe." Sudan Notes and Records 14, no. 2 (1931): 171-177.
Other Required Journal Articles JSTOR
El-Tom, Abdullahi. "Darfur People: Too Black for the Arab-Islamic Project of Sudan, Part II." Irish Journal of
Anthropology 9, no. 1 (2006): 12-18.
De Waal, Alex. "Who are the Darfurians? Arab and African identities, violence and external engagement." African
affairs 104, no. 415 (2005): 181-205.
Franco, J., 2007. Rape as weapon of war. Social Text, 25(2 91), pp.23-37.Gingerich, T. and Leaning, J.,
2004. The use of rape as a weapon of war in the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Program on Humanitarian
Crises and Human Rights, Franc̦ois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard
School of Public Health.
Hagan, J., Rymond-Richmond, W. and Palloni, A., 2009. Racial targeting of sexual violence in
Darfur. American journal of public health, 99(8), pp.1386-1392.Kothari, A., 2008. When rape victims
become symbolic representations of war: A textual analysis of The NY Times reporting on the use of
‘rape as weapon of war in Darfur. Global Media Journal: Mediterranean Edition, 3(2), pp.21-29.
Miller, S.C., 2009. Moral injury and relational harm: Analyzing rape in Darfur. Journal of social
philosophy, 40(4), pp.504-523.
9
Schabas, W.A., 2005. Darfur and the ‘odious scourge’: the Commission of Inquiry's findings on
genocide. Leiden Journal of International Law, 18(4), pp.871-885.Wagner, J., 2005. The systematic use
of rape as a tool of war in Darfur: A blueprint for international war crimes prosecutions. Geo. J. Int'l L., 37,
p.193.
Required Reading: Selected Sections from Travelogues Browne, W.G., 1806. Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria, from the Year 1792 to 1798. T. Cadell and W. Davies. Felkin, R.W., 1882. Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan (Vol. 1). S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington.
Recommended ArticlesRobinson, Arthur E. "The Arab Dynasty of Dar for (Darfur) AD 1448-1874 or
AH 852-1201: Part I." Journal of the Royal African Society 27, no. 108 (1928): 353-363.
Documentary Films and Programs
Doha-BBC Debates with Tim Sebastian (Selected debates on Darfur)
Georgetown University Honor System
Please view this link for GU honor system. Academic integrity is critical. Any evidence of plagiarized content will lead
to a failing grade.
https://www.qatar.georgetown.edu/programs/honor-system/sfs-q-honor-system
10
Class Schedule
August
21
Introductions
Overview
28
Readings:
J. Arkell, "The History of Darfur 1200-1700 AD." Sudan Notes and Records (1951): 207-238.
------------"The medieval History of Darfur in its relation to other cultures and to the Nilotic Sudan." Sudan Notes and
Records 40 (1959): 44-47.
Boustead, J. E. H., and JEH Boustead Bey. "The youth & last days of Ali Dinar" " Sudan Notes and Records 22, no. 1 (1939): 149-153. Gillan, J. A. "Darfur, 1916." Sudan Notes and Records 22, no. 1 (1939): 1-25.
Lampen, G. D. "History of Darfur." Sudan Notes and Records 31, no. 2 (1950): 177-209.
Theobald, A. B. "Darfur and its neighbors under Sultan Ali Dinar, 1898-1916." Sudan Notes and Records 40 (1959): 113-120.
September
11
Readings:
Browne, W.G., 1806. Travels in Africa, Egypt, and Syria, from the Year 1792 to 1798. T. Cadell and W. Davies. Nachtigal, G., 1971. Sahara and Sudan. University of California Press. Felkin, R.W., 1882. Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan (Vol. 1). S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington.
11
18
Reading
De Waal, Alex. "Who are the Darfurians? Arab and African identities, violence and external engagement." African
affairs 104, no. 415 (2005): 181-205.
El-Tom, Abdullahi. "Darfur People: Too Black for the Arab-Islamic Project of Sudan, Part II." Irish Journal of
Anthropology 9, no. 1 (2006): 12-18.
Design a Session
Group 1
25
Part 1 of the class McMichael, Harold Alfred. "Nubian elements in Darfur." Sudan Notes and Records 1, no. 1 (1918): 30-48. McMichael, Harold Alfred. "Nubian elements in Darfur." Sudan Notes and Records 1, no. 1 (1918): 30-48. McMichael, Harold A. "Darfur linguistics." Sudan Notes and Records 3, no. 3 (1920): 197-216. Theobald, A. B. "Darfur and its neighbors under Sultan Ali Dinar, 1898-1916." Sudan Notes and Records 40 (1959): 113-120. MacMichael, Harold A. "Notes on the Zaghawa and the People of Gebel Midob, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan." The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 42 (1912): 288-344.
Part 2, Lecture on How to Study War, Professor Harry Verehoven
12
October
2
Readings
Franco, J., 2007. Rape as weapon of war. Social Text, 25(2 91), pp.23-37.Gingerich, T. and Leaning, J.,
2004. The use of rape as a weapon of war in the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. Program on Humanitarian
Crises and Human Rights, Franc̦ois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard
School of Public Health.
Hagan, J., Rymond-Richmond, W. and Palloni, A., 2009. Racial targeting of sexual violence in
Darfur. American journal of public health, 99(8), pp.1386-1392.
Design a Session
Group 2
9
Readings
Miller, S.C., 2009. Moral injury and relational harm: Analyzing rape in Darfur. Journal of social
philosophy, 40(4), pp.504-523.
Kothari, A., 2008. When rape victims become symbolic representations of war: A textual analysis of The
NY Times reporting on the use of ‘rape as weapon of war in Darfur. Global Media Journal: Mediterranean
Edition, 3(2), pp.21-29.
Miller, S.C., 2009. Moral injury and relational harm: Analyzing rape in Darfur. Journal of social
philosophy, 40(4), pp.504-523.
Schabas, W.A., 2005. Darfur and the ‘odious scourge’: the Commission of Inquiry's findings on
genocide. Leiden Journal of International Law, 18(4), pp.871-885.Wagner, J., 2005. The systematic use
of rape as a tool of war in Darfur: A blueprint for international war crimes prosecutions. Geo. J. Int'l L., 37,
p.193.
16
Reading
Mamdani, M., 2010. Saviors and survivors: Darfur, politics, and the war on terror. Three Rivers Press.
Program
Mamdani/Prendergast Debate, Columbia University Law School
13
23
Readings
Design a Session
Group 3
Group 4
14
November
6
Documentary Film and Discussion
13
Reading
Barnett, M., 2011. Empire of humanity: A history of humanitarianism. Cornell University Press.
20
Reading
Barnett, M., 2011. Empire of humanity: A history of humanitarianism. Cornell University Press.
27
Reading
Barnett, M., 2011. Empire of humanity: A history of humanitarianism. Cornell University Press.
Last Class
