Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)

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The Social Life of the Peace Agreement: An Ethnography of Localised Conflict and Coexistence in South Sudan's Equatoria Region

Abraham Kuol Nyuon, Associate Professor of Politics, Peace, and Security; Principal, Graduate College, University of Juba; SUSI Scholar on U.S. Foreign Policy
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19476475
Published: November 6, 2023

Abstract

This ethnographic study examines the lived realities of the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) in the rural communities of Central Equatoria. Based on 14 months of immersive fieldwork, it argues that the formal peace process exists in a complex, often contradictory, relationship with persistent localised conflicts and deeply embedded practices of everyday coexistence. The analysis foregrounds the agency of local actors—including displaced farmers, customary authorities, and women's groups—who navigate and reinterpret the Agreement's provisions to manage insecurity and sustain social order. The findings reveal a fragmented peacescape where national-level political compromises are subsumed by more immediate concerns over land, cattle, and communal identity, challenging top-down models of peacebuilding and highlighting the critical role of ethnographic inquiry in African peace studies.

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How to Cite

Abraham Kuol Nyuon (2023). The Social Life of the Peace Agreement: An Ethnography of Localised Conflict and Coexistence in South Sudan's Equatoria Region. African Peace Studies (Political Science focus), Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19476475

Keywords

Everyday peaceLocalised conflictR-ARCSS implementationCustomary authorityLand disputesEthnographic peace researchEquatoria

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Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)
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African Peace Studies (Political Science focus)

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