This article examines the forms of ‘civility’ promoted by South Sudanese NGO leaders and staff in their efforts to navigate a context of pervasive political repression. Drawing on in-depth, life-work history interviews, it shows how the careful cultivation of a ‘non-political’ identity was a way of securing space to operate in a highly militarised, politically restricted environment, of working across the divisions created by conflict, and of creating small spaces for change. The article also points to the limitations of these non-political positions, to the struggles of aspirational projects to overcome the inequalities in which they are embedded, and to the risk of reproducing the hierarchies and exclusions of the wider humanitarian industry. For external actors engaged in ‘localisation’ efforts, the discussion is a reminder that decisions about which organisations to fund are inherently political, with implications for dynamics of inequality and marginalisation in South Sudanese (civil) society.
08 October 2026
The CSRF will go on hiatus as feedback on a funding proposal for continued operations is pending. Normal operations continue until 31 October 2026. Please continue to use the resources on the website, which will be maintained into 2027 regardless of the funding situation. We ask for your understanding as new outputs, trainings, and events go on pause, or if queries go unanswered, from October onwards.
