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Paper short abstract:

In South Sudan, people have died during wartime famines. In this paper I explore the social and religious meanings of these deaths from the perspective of death practitioners such as religious leaders. I argue that death rituals have changed because of these famine-time deaths.

Paper long abstract:

Armed Conflict and crises have been associated with challenges that include population displacement, the destruction of assets, the disruption of social and economic systems, and with death and injuries. South Sudan has been a theatre of violent conflict and deaths since signing of the CPA in 2005 and despite achieving its independence in 2011. Episodes of both national and subnational violence have always resulted in massive loss of lives as it pitied regions and communities against one another. Furthermore, in recent years, in pockets across South Sudan, armed conflict has caused many deaths that have been associated with starvation.

This paper aims to explore how hunger related deaths are handled by religious death practitioners, in terms of burial practices and how meanings of such deaths are being socially constructed and interpreted.

Considering how religious beliefs and spiritual agency inform people’s experiences about death and how meanings are socially constructed provides insights into how South Sudanese make sense of death and crises associated with armed conflict and starvation. This paper argues that hunger related death due to armed conflict in South Sudan has evoked new religious burial practices and shaped people’s perceptions and interpretations of deaths. The paper draws on data collected from South Sudan between January and June 2025, through interviews with religious leaders and personal experience as a death practitioner.