Networks of Knowledge Production in Sudan

This is the first book of its kind on Sudan, and arguably one of the first in North Africa. We are part of an emerging, more cosmopolitan approach that calls for a reassessment of ideas about not only the concept of identities, but also about migration and technology, especially social media. Our essayists engage in redefinitions, the broadening of our key variables, the linking and intersecting of concepts, and the investigations of methods and ethics, and opt for an approach that is, at once, culturally specific to Sudan (one of the most fluid social landscapes in the world) and transnational. Our essays address the narrowness of studies of migration and note the almost total neglect in the broader Sudan literature of the rise of technology—mobile telephony and social media, in particular. Furthermore, our essayists address the near neglect in the Sudan literature of certain categories of people, such as youth, or certain diverse spaces, such as neighborhoods or gold mines. We have also been attempting to move away from the nearly stereotypic descriptions of Sudan to deal with topics that align Sudan with transnational issues and themes, knowledge production among them. This multidisciplinary collection of essays is the first comprehensive work to grapple explicitly with the question of knowledge production in such a diverse social landscape. We discuss the impact of current trends in information technology and contemporary forms of identity and mobility on knowledge production. These issues are pertinent for different sectors such as academia, government or business, and, as we demonstrate, reveal a myriad of possibilities for studying diverse population groups like youth, women, diaspora, or specific political contexts such as conflict or oppression.

As a moral and politically informed collection of essays, Networks of Knowledge Production in the Sudan: Identities, Mobilities, and Technologies will be of interest to any Sudanese or diaspora scholars. However, the collection also establishes a paradigm for creative interdisciplinary scholarship for young academics who, armed with cell phones and a political consciousness, want to investigate the human implications of mass displacement., A valuable contribution to Sudanese and African studies. This exciting, engaging, and informative text brings together unique insights of relevant scholarship with a collection of essays that intricately link to identify the impact of technologies, migration, and identities of knowledge production in greater Sudan. A greatly needed volume., Networks of Knowledge Production in Sudan: Identities, Mobilities, and Technologies is a rare multidisciplinary volume on Sudan in which the editors brought together fifteen distinguished scholars of Sudan studies to interrogate knowledge production, mobility, and identity construction, and how these intersect with cyberspace technology. This is a timely and innovative work of great relevance for policy makers, scholars, and students of Sudan studies.

Sondra Hale is research professor and professor emerita of anthropology and gender studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.Gada Kadoda is lecturer of computer science at the University of Khartoum.