Socio-Economic Security Problems of the Murle and their Neighbours across the Ethiopia-South Sudan Border
| dc.contributor.advisor | Tadesse Berisso (Associate Professor) | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | William S. Reno (Professor) | |
| dc.contributor.author | Tasew Tafese | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-04-01T09:21:47Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-04-01T09:21:47Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-03 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation examines the socio-economic bases of the Murle and their neighbours across the Ethiopia-South Sudan border, in relation to security problems. The borderland people narrated their hostile relations with the Murle by referring their pervasive practices of cattle raiding, child abduction, and violent confrontations. Taking the case of the Murle and their borderland neighbours, following an ethnographic approach and adapting qualitative research methodology, data was gathered from members of the local community, humanitarian organizations, and officials across the border. Pertinent literatures were discussed on three themes, i.e., intergroup conflicts, contemplation of state borders, the socio economic interactions, and finally assessed the gaps of intellectual discussion regarding the socio-economic security problems across the border. Data analysis and interpretation was situated thematically. For those people across the border cattle, children, and land are the base of their economic asset. However, the borderland people are affected by intrinsic cultural assumptions such as – the Murle people believed that “all cattle in the world belong to them and need to collect cattle from other places and communities and follow a philosophy of enlarging their population to have enough potential to bargain the available natural resources”; the Jikany-Nuer predominantly depend on cattle while the Anyuaa believe that land is their sole property. To secure their intrinsic cultural assumption, they developed survival struggle mechanisms – the Anyuaa used defensive and preservation mechanisms; the Jikany-Nuer used protection and expansion mechanisms; and the Murle used collection and monopolization mechanisms. These complicated socio-economic interactions of the Murle and their borderland neighbours imply a security problem which is exacerbated by human security threats. The local government is unable to mitigate these threats and security problems due to the challenges of border porosity, South Sudanese instability, state customary disintegration, and fractured relations. The main predator of the borderland socio economic threats and security problems are the Murle youth. They infiltrate the Ethiopian border to raid cattle, abduct children, and confront the defenders. The main factors of their instigation are their idleness, widespread poverty, economic deterioration, and socio-cultural disorder. Moreover, the Murle red chiefs’/kings’ traditional system is malfunctioned by stripping its power since the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan colonial period; which eroded their cultural power to manage their youth that they categorized into age-groups. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/5277 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | |
| dc.title | Socio-Economic Security Problems of the Murle and their Neighbours across the Ethiopia-South Sudan Border | |
| dc.type | Thesis |