Much international attention has been focused on conflicts in Sudan over the years. The conflict in Darfur attracted many high-profile international figures and activists, who campaigned for human rights and peace in the region. However, much less attention has been given to how local activists and those in the Sudanese diaspora have situated their notions of rights, nationalism, and identity.
In Branding Humanity: Competing Narratives of Rights, Violence, and Global Citizenship, former Wilson Center Fellow Amal Hassan Fadlalla explores this question through interviews with Sudanese social actors, activists, and their allies at home and in the diaspora. Looking past the often-homogenous international view of conflict, the author considers how these different actors contest, reshape, and reclaim the stories of violence coming from the Sudan, as well as their own identities as migrants. She explores the clash of narratives mobilized by diverse actors with competing views of social, political, and identity issues. The book, based on Fadlalla's research conducted at the Wilson Center, asks how debates about violence affect ethnic identity, disrupt meanings of national belonging, and rearticulate notions of solidarity and global affiliations.
The Wilson Center's Africa Program hosted the launch of Branding Humanity, featuring a discussion with Fadlalla and Marisa O. Ensor of the Justice and Peace Studies Program at Georgetown University.
