Hawks and Doves in Sudan's Armed Conflict: Al-Hakkamat Baggara Women of Darfur

Suad Musa kicks off a new term of ASC seminars by launching her new book. Al-Hakkamat Baggara women hold an instrumental position in rural Sudan, wielding agency, social and political power. This book uncovers their significant, but widely overlooked, role during the war in Darfur from the 1970s, and into today’s continuing conflict. The author examines, in depth, the influence they exercised through composing and reciting poems and songs and through informal speech and other symbolic acts and analyses their impact in the social and political domain. Challenging the pervasive portrayal of women as natural peacebuilders and their roles as passive and submissive, she highlights how Sudan’s state government co-opted al-Hakkamat Baggara women to lobby on its behalf, to rally for war and to advocate for peace. They played a critical role in war, and understanding how they can contribute to the resolution and resettlement processes is vital to sustainable reconciliation and post-conflict transformation of the unstable state.