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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how pre-colonial and colonial histories of race, religion, ethnicity, and gender underpin social transformation in Sudan. It shows how these shape agrarian change by defining the meanings of work and structuring access to labour in rural regimes today.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines how pre-colonial and colonial histories of race, ethnicity, religion, and gender have shaped rural labour regimes in North Kordofan, Sudan, through what is termed 'categorical violence'. Drawing on socio-political and historical analysis, it explores how entrenched classifications determine access to labour, under what conditions work is performed, and how various forms of labour are valued. These classifications, rooted in pre-capitalist, colonial, and post-colonial systems, have reinforced hierarchies of power and exclusion that continue to structure agrarian and labour relations today.

The paper highlights the layered social meanings assigned to work, particularly the often-overlooked contributions of social reproductive labour, which sustain families and communities while reproducing systems of inequality. By examining how kinship, ethnicity, and social affiliations mediate access to work, it demonstrates how the family functions as a critical institution that shapes labour roles and opportunities.

This analysis reveals that labour opportunities are not only economic but deeply embedded in historical processes of racialisation, gendering, and social stratification. In this way, the paper links past and present systems of exploitation, showing how they persist through mechanisms of labour classification, valuation, and access.

Ultimately, the paper situates rural Sudan’s labour regimes within broader discussions of agrarian change, offering insights into how race and colonialism underpin structural inequalities. It provides a nuanced perspective on how these legacies continue to shape rural labour markets and agrarian transformation in contemporary conflict-affected contexts.