This article – South Sudan is one case study – makes the case for rethinking the social contract concept with attention to countries affected by conflict, fragility, and fraught transition. Inspired by related policy efforts and engaging scholarship across multiple disciplines, this piece and the multi-country research represented in this Special Issue aim to build the intellectual lineage of the concept. A conceptual framework and proposed heuristic device for enhancing policy and practice is presented….
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CSRF Research Repository
The CSRF Research Repository aims to support greater contextual knowledge for policy makers, programme managers, and implementers by providing a searchable repository of research, analysis, and resources, and providing periodic updates on new research and analysis.
The use of referendums to forge, ratify and enact peace agreements is on the rise. In growing numbers, peacemakers have organized referendums in order to aid peace talks and ameliorate post-settlement peacebuilding. Despite this increasingly common practice, there is little consensus on whether referendums help or hurt peace. Such votes can be uniquely powerful tools for addressing sovereignty incompatibilities driving armed conflict. However, dangerous outcomes include mass violence, intensified polarization, and the undermining peace agreement…
Despite high rates of violence against women and girls in conflict and humanitarian contexts, many survivors do not tell anyone about their experience or seek help from support services (e.g. health, legal, psychosocial support, police). This paper examines disclosure and help seeking behaviours of survivors of non-partner sexual violence (NPSV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) among women and girls aged 15–64 from three sites in South Sudan. It seeks to understand how exposure to armed…
This study applies the motivation – opportunity – ability (MOA) theoretical framework to study the intention – behaviour gap for asylum seekers and refugees who are currently transiting through Egypt and are intending to leave the country in the short term. Primary data were collected through the narratives of fifteen asylum seekers or refugees, coming from South Sudan, Libya or Syria. Results are threefold: firstly, findings confirm the need to rely on behavioural factors while…
As a powerful tool in shaping public opinion, the mainstream press has been a leading agent in influencing general attitudes towards refugees. Besides garnering sympathy for asylum seekers, news coverage also has the power, through misrepresentation and propaganda, to stimulate hostility towards refugees. In light of this, refugees’ ability to establish a new identity and integrate in a host society partly hinges on their portrayal in the media. The latest wave of refugees has generated …
Spiritual and divine authorities play a prominent role in mobilizing armed violence. This article provides a micro-history of a contemporary Nuer prophetess (guan kuoth) in South Sudan who mobilized hundreds of armed men including in support of current anti-government rebellions. The article grapples with apparent paradoxes in her approach to kume (a broadly defined notion of government) and customary law. This prophetess rejects logics of authority associated with the kume. At the same time, she champions the continuity…
This memo provides an analysis on the dynamics surrounding the delay to form the government of national unity (TGNU) in 2019, following the signature of the Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan in 2018. Read more here
This research examines engagement in diaspora philanthropy through the lens of Lost Boys of Sudan and their founding of small international nonprofit service organizations based in the United States. The authors seek to understand refugees’ motivations to take upon themselves leadership roles in their local United States communities and in the provision of goods and services to their homeland, South Sudan. By becoming founders of international service nonprofits, Lost Boys make meaning of their experiences…
Globally, it is estimated that at least one out of every three women experiences violence by an intimate partner and/or non-partner throughout their lifetime. Women and girls are at even higher risk of violence in conflict and humanitarian crises. Although effort has expanded to build rigorous evidence and research on violence against women and girls (VAWG) among conflict-affected populations, methodological and ethical challenges remain. Basic ethical research practices are more challenging in conflict-affected populations and…
This article explores how conflict-induced displacement influences agricultural innovation processes and systems, and its implications after the return home or permanent resettlement of smallholder farmers. Results show that high rates of agricultural innovation occurred during displacement in the Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005), many of which were maintained afterwards. Respondents cited the need for adaptation to new social and physical circumstances, changed gender roles, and enhanced inter-household communication as contributing to increased opportunities for knowledge exchange,…
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