The historiography of modern and contemporary Sudan has been shaped by its political history. Indeed, historians have often been called upon to respond to contemporary crises – civil wars, regime changes, international conflicts – often according to criteria of urgency, at the risk of falling into a certain presentism. In this context, social history, which often requires a slower and punctilious form of research, which does not produce ready-made solutions to the multiple crises in the country, and which put at the centre stage the lives of “ordinary people” has struggled to assert itself on the academic scene. This conference, which is also a research program, aims to put “ordinary people”, women and men, back at the center of Sudan's modern and contemporary history. From the outset, we wish to emphasize that the term “ordinary people” should neither hide nor flatten the teeming complexity of Sudanese society.

Argument

The historiography of modern and contemporary Sudan has been shaped by its political history. Indeed, historians have often been called upon to respond to contemporary crises – civil wars, regime changes, international conflicts – often according to criteria of urgency, at the risk of falling into a certain presentism. In this context, social history, which often requires a slower and punctilious form of research, which does not produce ready-made solutions to the multiple crises in the country, and which put at the centre stage the lives of “ordinary people” has struggled to assert itself on the academic scene.

This conference, which is also a research program, aims to put "ordinary people", women and men, back at the center of Sudan's modern and contemporary history. From the outset, we wish to emphasize that the term "ordinary people" should neither hide nor flatten the teeming complexity of Sudanese society. We also wish to consider all the dimensions related to the history of "exceptionally normal" people: their daily lives, beliefs, horizons and desires, their interconnections and circulations, while never forgetting the diversity of the various actors, be it related to their social class or their origin.

Taking the social history of "ordinary people", including those of the marginalized peripheries, as a starting point for historical research opens up new perspectives, not only on the political history of the country, but also on the changes, breaks and crises that the country has gone through. This includes the understanding of great popular revolutionary episodes that have been pivotal for its history, such as the one that has been taking place since December 2018 and brought the end of Omar al-Bashir's regime (1989-2019).

Programme

Morning

9h-9h15: Welcoming of participants and opening speeches

Panel 1: New Approaches to the Sudanese Historiography of the 19th and 20th Centuries

• 9h15-10h30: Keynote 1: Heather J. Sharkey, University of Pennsylvania, “The Sudanese Soldiers Who Went to Mexico: Microhistory, Subaltern History, and Global History amid Civil Wars and Imperial Rivalries (circa 1861-1898)”
• 10h30-11h15: Iris Séri-Hersch, University of Aix-Marseille: “How Does One Write about the “Former Turkiyya” (1820-1885) in Sudan? Foundations for a Historical Sociology of Sudanese Knowledge and Narratives (1940s-2010s)”

Coffee break

• 11h30-12h15: Mahassin ‘Abd al-Jalil, University of Bahri: “The History of Obliterations: Methodological Challenges in Writing the 20^th Century History of Sudan”
• 12h15-13h00: Anaël Poussier, University of Paris 1: “Fighting for God: The Social Mobilization of the Bija Tribes in the Eastern Sudan during the Mahdiyya (1883-1891)”

Discussant: TBA

13h00-14h30 lunch break

Afternoon

Panel 2: Economic, Intellectual and Urban history

• 14h30-15h45: Keynote 2: Ahmad A. Sikainga, The Ohio State University “Race, Empire, and the Struggle for Leisure in Colonial Khartoum”
• 15h45-16h30: Steven Serels, ZMO Leibnitz: “Consumer Taste and the Transformation of Dongola Province in the Early Twentieth Century”

Coffee break

• 16h45-17h30: Marina D’Errico, Independent Scholar: “From the Courtyard House to the Cluster: Elements of Socialization in the Layout of the Old Omdurman”.
• 17h30-18h15: Gafaar Elsouri, University of Paris 7: “The Urban History in Sudan: Historiography, Sources and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Study of the Urban Environment”

Discussant: Alice Franck, University of Paris 1

11th of December

Women’s and Gender history: New Approaches, Methodology and Sources

Morning

Panel 3: Rethinking Gender History in Sudan

• 9h15-10h30: Keynote 3: Marie Grace Brown, The University of Kansas: “On the Move: Locating Intimacy and Sensuality in Sudanese History”
• 10h30-11h15: Mohammad Adam Hamid, University of Khartoum: “The Social Life of Women in the Era of the Fung Kingdom”

Coffee break

• 11h30-12h15: Shereen Ibrahim, University of Bahri: “History Of Marriage In Urban Muslim Sudan (1898- 2011)”
• 12h15-13h: Katarzyna Grabska (Institute of International Social Studies, The Hague) and Azza Abd al-Aziz (CEDEJ Khartoum): “Historical Take on Music and Gender Relations Transformations: Women Singing Out in Sudan 

Discussant: TBA

13h00-14h30 lunch break 

Afternoon

Panel 4: Sources and Methodology

• 14h30-15h15: Ekhlas Makawi, Sudanese Academy of Administrative Sciences: “Sudanese Women in Contract Documents. Sales, Gift, Mortgage, Marriage and Divorce Contracts: Samples from the Sultanate of Sennar from 1504 to 1900”
• 15h15-16h: Omar Hummaida, University of Khartoum,: “A Historical Study of the Contribution of Women in Sudanese awqaf”

Coffee break

• 16h15-17h: Marion Malga Baptisto, University of Paris 1: “Photography for a Social History: Being a Midwife in Colonial Sudan in the « Wolff’s » Sister Papers”
• 17h-17h45: Elena Vezzadini, IMAF Paris: “Emancipation by the Press: debating the “Women question” in the Sudanese press of the 1950s”
• 17h45-18h30: Abir Nur, EHESS: “Towards a Version of Sudanese Interpretation of Female « Empowerment »: Examples from the Life Trajectories of Members of the Sudanese General Women’s Union”

Discussant: Anne Hugon, University of Paris 1

12th of December

History of Labour, History of Social Mobilisations

Morning

Panel 5: Labour History and its Connection to Social Movements

• 9h15-10h: Ibrahim Ammar, Independent Scholar, bagir75@hotmail.com: “Police Professional Doctrine In Sudan: Establishment And Development”
• 10h-10h45: Lucie Revilla, LAM Bordeaux, revilla.lucie@gmail.com: “Public Labor, Social Distinction and Tamkin : Contribution to the Social history of the National Congress Party (1989-2019)” 

Coffee break

• 11h-11h45: Barbara Casciarri, University of Paris 8, barbara.casciarri@univ-paris8.fr: “Between Class, Ethnicity and Locality. Social Formation and Political Mobilization in a Working-Class Neighbourhood of Khartoum (Deim)”
• 11h45-12h30: Willow Berridge, University of Newcastle, Willow.Berridge@newcastle.ac.uk: 'Fanonian Class Analysis and the Intifadas: Professionals, Workers and the Lumpenproletariat in Sudan's Revolutionary Uprisings”

Discussant: Alexis Roy, IMAF Paris, royalexi@gmail.com

12h30-14h lunch break

Afternoon

Panel 6: Social mobilisations, past and present

• 14h-15h15: Keynote 4: Yoshiko Kurita, Chiba University: “Re-examining the Sources of Sudanese Revolution: The Meaning of Talking about the “Social History of Sudan” in 2019”
• 15h15-16h: Rebecca Glade, Columbia University: “Students on the Move: The Social Lives of southern Sudanese students, 1956-1972”
• 16h-16h45: Moritz Mihatsch, Independent Scholar: “Regional Mobilisation in Sudan in the 1960s; Between Social Movements and Political Parties”

Coffee break

• 17h-17h45: Clément Deshayes, University of Paris 8: “Beyond the Novelty of the Sudanese Uprising: a Longitudinal Study of Urban Protest in Khartoum (2009 -2019)”
• 17h45-18h30: Safa Mohammed Khier: “The Historical Grassroots of Women Contribution in the December Revolution of Sudan”

Discussant: TBA