Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses the Nubian resistance against state-driven Kajbar proposed dam in Northern Sudan. The focus is more on the mutual constitutive nature of power/resistance.

Paper long abstract:

The paper deals with a highly contested "development" project to show the conflicting visions and the power relations between the state and some Nubian communities. What happens when the local people whom were previously perceived as objects and consumers of "development" have become active subjects and try to control their own destiny? What kind of resistance can we get when the developmentality loses its credibility and the locals are actively engaged in production of counter critical knowledge?

The paper analyzes the different driving forces behind the Nubian resistance, namely; their deep connectedness to their homeland, dis-trust of the state, the government authoritative and coercive intervention, state driven harmful experiences that they have in their collective memories, lack of participatory spaces and the role of Nubian intellectuals in mobilization for resistance. All these factors and others have contributed to the escalation of the Nubian resistance that has stopped Kajbar proposed dam for more than two decades. Relying on the empirical materials and theoretical perspective from my ongoing PhD project; I argue that locals' counter voices against hegemonic state interventions can no longer be silenced. Moreover, the governments' attempt to ignore or suppress this resistance in a situation of extreme locals' delegitimization of the state leads to more conflicting situation in Africa, and in Sudan in particular. My argument attempts neither to lionize nor to homogenize the local resistance, it only highlights the necessity of taking the local resistance seriously.