Description
Timm’s research in Torit town in South Sudan was on the continuous construction and reconstruction of the state, but also examined features of its structural endurance and perseverance. He showed how multiple ideas of a state are translated into local contexts, such as the necessity and functioning of formal Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) processes, monetarization of the economy and the creation of a national identity. These ideas are transported with the help of experts, manuals, and people contributing with their own experiences, building on and shaping existing hopes and symbols. Carving out the elements of state formation that actually contribute to the stabilization of the South Sudanese state, or its destabilization, means going beyond a pre-defined set of ideas about what a state is, often based on an understanding derived from western European welfare nation-states.
Key publication
Unpublished PhD Dissertation: “‘The last bullet’: South Sudan’s emerging state”.
Date: 2010-2016
Further InformationTeam members
Timm Sureau
Postdoctoral Researcher at the MPI for Social Anthropology and the University of Halle
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